Shane enters RWBY
by PaladinShane
Summary: This is a self-insertion of me into the world of RWBY. It is also my first fanfiction. I hope whoever reads this enjoys and leaves good constructive criticism. When it comes to RWBY I own NOTHING
1. Introduction

**I've never written a fanfiction before, So heres my first try, and its a self-insertion into the RWBY universe. I hope you like it and review and all that crap. Constructive criticism much appreciated!**

* * *

**Once Upon a Time I disappeared**

I never felt free, I just did what I was told and walked the line. Until one day I took a chance and walked through a door to a new world.

It was a cold evening in the state of Maine, a state out of the way and full of trees. An unforgettable Saturday evening, mainly because the last 8 agonizing hours were spent in a middle school at a hunter's safety course. The sun was setting as I stepped outside with my sister and my step-brother's bride to be; Jennifer.

I stretched, sighed and looked. My sister and Jennifer passed me as thunder rumbled from the newly formed dark clouds. I looked to the sky and a brilliant flash of light came from the sky and crashed across the street.

The street pole the lightning had struck was now deformed and partially melted. Nearby onlookers whistled, yelped and took pictures to post on various social websites. I was dazed by the sight and was amazed that lightning could do such a thing. The pole looked like a lower case "n" and smelled like someone had burnt aluminum foil on a hot stove.

The old theory that lightning could never strike the same place twice was soon proven wrong as another bolt of lightning struck the newly mutated light pole. Electricity flowed between the two legs of the n and shimmered as if the thousands of volts were a pool of water.

I shielded my eyes from the second bolt and I squeezed my required bag of outdoor necessities that was required for inspection by the hunter's safety instructor. The bag contained water, trail mix, two compasses, string, band-aids, Neosporin, iodine, thick string, waterproof matches, and two knives; One 4 inch wooden handled pocket knife and one carbon-steel, spring assisted, and rust resistant 6 inch pocket knife of similar design.

I looked at the pole and realized it looked like a portal from the game Portal. My eyes widened as I thought, 'This could be what i've waited for all my life!' All doubt escaped my mind as I ran to the disfigured structure. I heard the yells of nearby people including Jennifer and my sister.

I looked over my shoulder to see my sister striding toward me. My mind race at a million miles a minute, considering the hundreds of variables that would result in my next action. My sister was fuming as she closed in, and I made my decision. I looked at my hand and thought, 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained.' I turned and charged in, leaving my past life behind.


	2. Chapter 1: Arrival

**Chapter 1: Arrival**

* * *

I felt agonizing pain. Turns out traveling through dimensions/universes really fucking hurts. I remembered nothing of the travel, or how long it took, but I do remember slamming face-first into the grass.

After a short nap... not really, I was unconscious. I awoke to find that my nose was bleeding. I squinted and pinched my nose, exclaiming, "Ooh, that smarts!" I took a look around to see unfamiliar territory, one covered with beautiful bright green trees.

I heard no animals, but I was certain that something had to have woken me up. Then along with the normal rustling of leaves I heard another more violent rustling. I stood up only to collapse immediately. Turns out thousands of volts of electricity really has an effect on ones ability to move. I stood for a moment, using a nearby tree for support. The moment I let go of the tree, I collapsed, AGAIN.

I heard the unnatural rustling again. And with an angry growl and a renewed feeling of will, I clawed to my feet hissing, "Third time charm right? GET UP!" After a bit of wobbling and dry heaving, I was up.

I felt terrible. With some electricity in my system and with blood it my stomach, I stumbled behind a tree behind a tree about 50 feet away. I collapsed against the tree and took a moment to get my bearings.

Meanwhile the rustling reached its peak and at long last what looked like a huge black bear wearing a skull helmet came out of the bushes. My eyes went wide when the bear began sniffing the blood I left on the ground. And it let out the most terrifying growl I ever heard as it looked left, right, and left again.

I opened my pack and fished out my wooden-handled pocket knife. The bear stalked off in a different direction sniffing all the while. Once its back was turned, I crept from tree to tree, constantly looking over my shoulder. Once I thought I had reached what I believed to be minimum safe distance, I snatched up a two meter long stick that was about two inches in diameter. I began to whittle the stick down to a point and cutting off any excess branches sticking out.

As I completed my work, the growling returned, louder than ever. I peaked out from behind my tree of safety to see the bear about 10 meters away. It sniffed the air one last time and turned to see my face peaking out from behind the tree. It roared and charged my beloved tree, I froze as it closed the distance. At the last moment, it reared up and clawed at my tree. Diving out of the way, I rolled onto my back to see that the bear had fractured the tree and had caused the tree to tilt slightly to the side.

Horrified, I staggered to my feet and readied my stick. The bear leapt forward and clawed at me once more. I jumped back to avoid the vicious claws, and by extension, an early grave. The battle continued like that for a while. A swipe and a jump back, a swipe and another jump back.

I hoped the bear was getting tired, though it showed little sign of fatigue. I was getting a little hot so I quickly unzipped my puffy back jacket. Finally I got the opening I was looking for, the bear reared up again, I skipped back. It clawed the air where I used to be, then I jumped forward and thrust my makeshift spear into its chest.

My moment of triumph was short-lived, once the bear put the its weight on the spear, it quickly snapped. Stunned and appalled, I reacted too slowly to the bear's swipe. It raked its claws across my chest and threw me against a nearby tree which abruptly shattered. I smacked my head against a boulder on the other side soon after landing. Dazed, I looked back at my opponent and the tree I had inadvertently destroyed. "What are these trees made out of? Styrofoam?!" I grumbled sarcastically.

The bear once again proceeded toward me. However, this time at a much slower pace, it seemed that the stick lodged in its chest was having some effect. Hazily, I fished out my larger 6-inch knife out of my bag. I flicked it open and readied myself. The bear lumbered forward for the killing stroke. As it brought its front paw back to deliver the blow, I rolled out of the way. Its massive paw turned the face of the rock to dust. I jumped forward and shoved my knife into where the heart would be on a bear. I must have shoved in and withdrawn the knife fifteen times. I'm unsure which thrust killed it, I honestly didn't care.

I laughed, and tears rolled down my cheeks. I was concussed, scarred, and bleeding out of my chest, but I was alive. I looked up to see three more bears of similar shape and size. I scrambled back with my back against the boulder.

The bear-shaped monsters walked forward. They appeared to be in no hurry, they knew I was going nowhere fast. I was doomed and I knew it. I closed my eyes and waited for my death, which surprisingly never came.

With a swish, two slices and two gunshots, I opened my eyes. I saw a red-hooded figure examining its work on the creatures. My vision blurred and I managed to ramble out, "Gerherberbelerb". The figure turned and ran toward me. A girl's voice exclaimed, "Oh my gosh!" The last thing I remember before blacking out was the feeling of attempted dragging. As well the same voice asking with a grunt, "Why are you so HEAVY?!"


	3. Chapter 2: Welcome

**Chapter 2: Welcome!**

* * *

I awoke hours later in a daze and with a headache. I blinked my eyes open to see where I was.

Taking a look at my surroundings I saw a 4 beds (including mine), 4 dressers, a large window, an alarm (or perhaps a bell?), a bathroom and a closet. The room was rather bland, no distinctive features, and it looked like nobody had been in the room for years.

I sat up and was quickly re-acquainted with the gash on my chest. However, unlike when I last saw it, I couldn't see it. Bandages had been wrapped around my chest tightly, and an IV was hooked up to my arm.

I shook my head, seeking clarity. I tried to make sense of the situation using what I knew. Which was not much.

'I'm in a room. I have received medical attention, but i'm not in an infirmary or hospital." I thought while eyeing the bell.

'I'm not in a prison. If I was, there would be bars on the window.' 'I'm also in different clothes!' I realized looking down at myself.

'Wait! If i'm in different clothes, then wheres my stuff?' I gazed around the room, and on the dresser next to me I saw my watch and cellphone.

As I tried to reach for my belongings, I noticed my hand was cuffed to the bedpost.

I snickered,'Theres only one reason I can think of for handcuffs in be- NO BAD SELF! DEDUCTIONS NOW, SEXUAL DELUSIONS LATER!'

As I pondered these facts, the alarm rang. I wasn't certain what to do, so I stayed in the bed. Not that I could leave anyway.

The truth to my current residence was far worse than I imagined. Instead of running and screams that usually result in the sounding of an alarm being sounded, I heard walking, calm voices, casual conversations, and yawns of tired boredom.

Then it hit me, I realized that I wasn't in some random facility, I was in a SCHOOL.

"Nooooooo..." I moaned while collapsing back onto the pillow. The bell stopped ringing.

I saw the door begin to open, so I sat back up.

A familiar figure stepped through the doorway and looked at me.

"Yaaay! You're awake!" the girl cheered quietly.

"Yep, not dead." I replied as her voice reminded me of by aching head.

She strolled over to the bedside and dropped her bag next to my bed.

As she came closer I inspected her. She wasn't particularly tall, she had dark hair with a red tint, silver eyes, and was wearing what looked like a school uniform with combat boots.

She stood next to me and asked,"How're you feeling?"

"Been better." I replied as I pulled my handcuffed arm.

"Oh, right." She said with a voice of solace, "Sorry, we couldn't find any ID on you so we had to," she made air-quotes "assume hostile."

I shrugged, "That makes sense I suppose."

She nodded, and offered her hand, "By the way, my name's Ruby Rose"

I shook her hand and mirrored, "Shane Mansfield."

"Nice to meet you Shane." she raised her hands in a mock celebratory manner, "Welcome to Beacon!"

I tilted my head,"Never heard of it."

Ruby seemed surprised, "Never heard of Beacon?! It's the hunter and huntress training school right outside Vale!"

I shook my head, "Never heard of Vale either."

She was baffled, "Where are you from then?"

"Maine"

She tilted her head just as I had done a moment ago, "Never heard of it."

I was confused, "Its the northeastern most state in America!"

"Never heard of that either."

My head was spinning. "Am I even on the same planet?!"

"If by that you mean Remnant, yes."

"I'M NOT EVEN THE SAME PLANET?!"

She was shocked, She jumped back, extended her hand and exclaimed,"Are you screwing with me? Or are you some kinda alien?!"

I responded in a panic, "Yes?! No?! I don't know!"

Ruby took a couple silent steps back.

Then it dawned on me. Everyone I knew, everywhere i'd been, all the work i'd done, and everything that was mine, was gone.

I choked up. "Everyones gone..." I whispered, "My dad, mom, sister, brother, Rachel... everyones gone..." I teared up and clenched my blanket.

Ruby immediately softened and teared up, "Awww." She murmured.

I wiped the tears from my eyes just in time to see her disappear in a puff of rose petals and instantaneously re-appear next to me with her arms extended for a hug.

"GAAAH! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" I cried out while moving as far to the right as I could while still being handcuffed to the bed.

She looked hurt and confused, "Wha-" and you could see the lights turn on in her head. "Oh! My semblance!"

"Whats semblance?" I asked.

She smiled,"Its what allows me to do this-" She once again disappeared in another puff of roses and re-appeared next to me once more. "See?"

"JESUS! Stop doing that!"

She laughed somewhat sadistically. And remarked, "Aren't we jumpy?"

I glared back before changing the conversation. "So, if you don't mind me asking, where's my stuff?"

"Oh yea!" she blurted, "I'll go get them!" She dashed to the door before turning to say, "Don't you go nowhere." And running off.

I sighed at the pun and pulled on my handcuffed hand.

Roughly five minutes later she returned with a trash bag containing my possessions and the key to the handcuffs restraining my left arm.

"Here you go!" she declared throwing the bag at me.

I caught the bag in my right hand and then proceeded to catch the key.

As I un-cuffed myself, Ruby informatively said,"By the way, now that you're awake, Professor Ozpin wants to see you."

"Who's-"

Ruby predicted my next question stating, "He's the headmaster of Beacon. He owns the place basically."

I nodded while sifting through my stuff. While Ruby walked closer.

"Where's my knives? I had them in the bag..."

"Bag? Oh you mean the fanny pack?"

I sighed, I hated that word.

"We had to confiscate them for your own safety." she claimed.

"My safety? Wouldn't you be more concerned about me stabbing someone?"

She shook her head and laughed, "We're in Beacon. Everyone here has killed countless monsters and are all carrying weapons."

"Monsters? You mean like the Bear-thingy that attacked me?"

"Ursa." She corrected, "But yeah, like them."

I continued to rummage through the bag, My shirt was gone, probably thrown out. However, my jacket had miraculously survived thanks to me taking the moment to unzip it. A new set of clothes were included in the bag. And the "fanny pack" was still in one piece.

"Heey!" I happily cheered, "My hat!" I withdrew the pin-striped and button spangled fedora from the bag and smiled.

"Rachel got this for me-..." My voice left me as another wave of sadness washed over me as I remembered that I would never see her or anyone else back home again.

Ruby noticed this change and quickly wrapped me in a hug.

I sniffed and sighed. I donned the lovingly selected hat and stood up proclaiming, "I suppose I shouldn't keep the Professor waiting."

Once standing I quickly realized how much taller than Ruby I was.

She also came to this realization and said,"Wow, you're as tall as Cardin! How old are you?"

I blinked, "I'm only 15!"

Ruby shrugged and led me out of the room.


	4. Chapter 3: Meeting People

**Chapter 3: Meeting People**

_Positive input always welcome! Be sure to leave some. _

* * *

It was strange. And I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed. I felt _light_. Not Emotionally, mentally, or metaphorically, but physically. It wasn't like being in zero gravity, but like weighing a fourth of what you normally would.

On a different note, being led down the halls of Beacon wasn't the most pleasant experience. Its as if they could smell the outsider on you. It was a big school, but it seems everyone had a great memory for faces. Or, perhaps so they knew their competition. Or it could've been that I wasn't in uniform.

Either way I was getting weird looks all the way to Ozpin's office. It didn't bother me as much as it should've. I understood that this was a very exclusive school and those inside needed to earn their place. So I understood their grumbles of discontent.

About 3/4ths of the way there, most students had gone to wherever they needed to go. Ruby didn't talk to anyone on the way there, she didn't seem very comfortable around people. That's what I thought until a strange blonde girl, dressed mainly in yellow and looked like she really needed a haircut jumped out from behind a wall and tackled Ruby to the ground.

"RUUUUBYYYYYY!" She screeched "Where's Wiess?!"

Ruby's eyes rolled around in her head like tops

"I-If you were looking for Wiess, wh-why'd you tackle me?" she inquired dizzily.

"Well, its your job to look after her."

"Then what's your job?"

"To look after you! You are my baby sister after all!" She replied smugly. "You look after Wiess, Wiess looks after Blake, and Blake looks after me!"

"Yaaaannggggg~"

The two girls squabbled back and forth. Not thinking it was my place to interject, I simply stood there and watched. All the while wishing for a bag of popcorn.

A short while later, Yang finally stood up and noticed me. Most people would've been embarrassed, she honestly just didn't care.

"Oh hi!" she exclaimed, "Didn't see you there. You must be Ruby's boyfriend!"

I took a step back as I saw Ruby rise up from behind Yang.

It was Ruby's turn to do the tackling, the cat-fight that followed was a bit of an incomprehensible mess. Ruby made it clear to Yang that we were not involved. The fight went on for a while, though I wasn't around for most of it.

Soon after the fight broke out another girl, dressed primarily in black stepped out of the shadows and tapped me on the shoulder.

I looked at her face, she was remarkably calm. Or perhaps just used to the sister's fighting. She had piercing amber colored eyes, and wore a large bow atop her head.

She extended her hand and introduced herself rather blankly, "Hello, I'm Blake Belladonna."

I accepted her hand and shook it, "Shane Mansfield." I replied.

She looked past me and at the two wrestling sisters. She permitted herself a little half-smile, "It was like this when I first met Yang too."

She sighed, "Some things never change... Anyway, I suppose I should escort you to Ozpin's office while our fearless leader Ruby is otherwise Pre-occupied."

"Fearless Leader?" I asked, "are you guys on a team together?"

She nodded, "Team RWBY"

"Alright then."

With a wave goodbye I entered Ozpin's Office


	5. Chapter 4: Pinch, Poke, Prod

**Chapter 4: Pinch, Poke, Prod**

* * *

Ozpin's office was nothing extravagant. One desk, with a coffee maker on it. Two filing cabinets on either end of a high table which was covered with folders, dossiers, and various papers. And a large window overlooking the campus.

Ozpin didn't seem like the kind of man to flaunt his successes, but his experience and skill was apparent. He was rather young for a professor, his hair was grey and disheveled, he was thin, and wore a green undershirt with a long-coat and a vest embellished with gold buttons.

Ozpin motioned for me to sit across from him, on the other side of his desk. He looked me over but said nothing.

I sat quietly while he looked at me and read from a stack of papers. After a short while, he broke the deafening silence.

"So, you're the young man that Miss Rose and her team brought back three days ago." He leaned forward interlocked his fingers, "Interesting"

I shrugged nervously, "Uhh, I guess so?"

"Miss Rose is also of the belief that you're from a different world."

I could see where this was going. I put my head in my hands, "I get it." I looked up, "You think i'm freakin' nuts!"

He parted his hands before interlocking them once more

"Take a look at this." He stated plainly.

Ozpin proceeded to pick up what looked like a tablet off his desk. He showed an aerial shot of me laying on the ground after landing. "We had you tagged the moment you arrived." He pointed at the screen, "People don't just randomly appear in the middle of the emerald forest."

I remained silent

He then fast-forwarded a few hours to me staggering around and sharpening the stick. "And most people have the common sense not to wander around somewhere so dangerous while so lightly armed."

I explained, "Well, where i'm from, we don't have giant monsters wandering around forests."

He narrowed his eyes, "So tell me about your home."

I gave him as much information as I could about earth; Various wars, world events, politics, basic history, inventions, cultures, nationalities, countries, and anything he asked about.

By the time I was done, I could hardly speak, I had talked for at least two hours. And Ozpin looked mostly un-phased.

After processing all this information, he at long last asked the important question.

"So how did you get here?"

I blinked and told him what happened, "Well, I had just stepped out of the Buxton middle school, and lightning struck the streetlamp across the street. It looked weirdly deformed, like the letter 'n'. Then another bolt of lightning struck the streetlamp. It looked like some kind of fictional portal."

He turned his head, "So you decided to step through it?"

I sighed and nodded, "I just thought maybe it would be my opportunity to be remembered for being the first person to teleport or something." I looked down and almost smiled, "Honestly, I don't know what I was expecting. But really, this is much cooler than I had hoped for."

Ozpin was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

I looked up and smiled, "In a land brimming with monsters, there's a legendary academy dedicated to training young people to defend common citizens. What's not to love? There's no nobler cause!"

Ozpin softened and I could almost see a smile on his face

A moment later he said, "Glynda? Could you come over here for a moment?"

Out of the corner, a middle aged woman with light blond hair stepped forward.

I was confused, 'How did I not see her? I must've looked at that corner 20 times!'

Ozpin looked at me and politely asked, "Would you excuse us for a moment?"

"Ok." I said standing up.

I walked to the door and pushed it open, almost bowling over Yang and Ruby who were trying very hard to eavesdrop and were now trying very hard to look innocent.

"How long were standing here?"

"Not long!" Ruby lied while trying to nonchalantly conceal the various empty snack food bags that had accumulated over the hours of eavesdropping.

I glared at her.

"Ok fine!" She caved, "We've been here sense Blake told us that she'd dropped you off here." She said as she thrusted a thumb at the shadowy girl reading a book in the corner.

Yang shook her head and shrugged, "And thankfully around the same time, Princess snowball over there decided to bless us with her presence." She said as he jerked her thumb at the white-clad heiress sitting across from Blake.

She glared at Yang and stood up. She said nothing as she walked over and introduced herself. "Wiess Schnee, heiress of Schnee enterprises."

I Shrugged, "Never heard of it."

Wiess looked befuddled, and Yang snorted.

"Princess can't believe that someone hasn't heard of her!" She exclaimed chuckling

Wiess once again glared at Yang and growled, "Thin ice Blondie."

Yang faked shivered, "Whoa, Wiess cold Princess!" She punned

A simultaneous groan was vocalized by team RWBY. (Excluding Yang of course)

"Oh come on! That was good!" Yang objected

Before the bickering could begin, the door to Ozpin's office swung open presenting the man himself.

Ozpin stood in the doorway with a cup of coffee in one hand and a box in the other.

He looked at team RWBY before turning his gaze on me and handing me the box and saying, "Congratulations and Welcome To Beacon."


	6. Chapter 5: Decisions, and a Box

**Chapter 5: Decisions, and Boxes **

* * *

Jaws hit the floor.

Ozpin offering some random schlub a position in beacon? It's the highest regarded and best known combat school in all of remnant! Such a proposition seemed totally illogical.

Yet the offer was made.

"W-wait... But Beacon is a combat school for the best and brightest!" I objected modestly, "I'm neither of those things!"

Ozpin sipped his coffee, "Alright then, refuse my offer." He countered, "But tell me, where will you go? And what will you do?" He asked accusingly

"Uhh... Ermmmm..." I sputtered. 'You idiot!' my inner self screamed at me, 'this is exactly what you hoped for! What are you doing?!'

I shook some sense into myself. "I see your point! Sorry for arguing!" I apologized quickly while accepting the generously offered box.

Ozpin smiled, "That's what I thought." He turned and stepped halfway into his office before saying, "and Miss Rose?"

Ruby picked up her jaw and looked up.

"If I catch you eavesdropping one more time, i'm throwing Crescent Rose off a cliff."

Ruby looked shocked and terrified at the threat and quickly grasped her beloved weapon and held it close.

Ozpin's door then closed and all was silent for a time.

Wiess finally broke the silence, "Well, it seems that Ozpin has decided that anyone can get accepted into Beacon. I suppose we should start considering some of the smarter looking rocks as candidates!" She scoffed dismissively

I sighed as I looked at the box with mixed emotions.

"Soo..." Ruby inquired, "What's in the box?"

"Never mind that!" Yang screeched. Everyone looked at her worriedly. "We're late for dinner!" She said pointing at the clock

"WHAT?!" Ruby squealed. Ruby then leapt up and grabbed Wiess's collar and took off down the hall. All the while Wiess was squirming and screaming, "LET GO OF ME YOU DUNCE!"

Yang promptly took off after them and Blake followed her. I paused for a moment before following suit.

The dining hall was filled with students of all different shapes and sizes. Some big, some small, some thin, some thick. But most interestingly of all, some had animal ears and features.

After waiting in the lunch line and acquiring a prime cut of steak, I was waved over to the table that team RWBY had lain claim to.

I sat down while Blake and Wiess debated about some book and while Yang scarfed down her food and Ruby chugged her milk.

As I went to cut into my meat, I could feel Ruby's gaze burning into my skull. I looked up and she looked as though she was about to explode.

"What?" I asked evenly.

"WHAT'S IN THE BOX?!" She yelled bouncing.

This question attracted both Blake and Wiess's opinion. They were also curious as to what the mysterious box contained.

"Maybe I should just not open it, just to torture you." I teased.

Ruby's eye twitched as she crushed the glass in her hand. Strangely, the shattered glass left not a single cut.

Fearing for my own safety, I obliged her curiosity and opened the mysterious black box. "Hey! My knife!" I proclaimed withdrawing the blade from the box.

Wiess was intrigued, "How did you kill an Ursa with such a small knife?"

I responded, "It doesn't matter the size, it matters how you use it."

Yang snorted and Blake blushed as both their minds plunged into the gutter.

Wiess objected, "Oh grow up!"

Ruby was confused, "I don't get it."

Blake's blush faded and she questioned, "So how did you do it?"

"Well," I started, "In my haste, I assumed that because the Ursa looked like a bear, it would have the same physiology as one. So, when I evaded the killing swipe by flinging myself out of the way, I scrambled to stab where its heart would have been if it were a bear."

"How many times did you stab it?"

"I wasn't counting." I scratched my head, "But i'd say somewhere around 15-20 times."

Wiess sipped her tea, "Interesting."

"How so?" I asked.

"Just wondering how someone as... Large... as yourself could move swiftly enough to perform such an act."

I frowned, I knew I was heftier than most, but I also knew I wasn't grossly overweight.

Ruby foresaw the oncoming conflict and decided to change the subject while also satiating her own curiosity.

"So what else is in the box?"

"Let's see... A tablet-"

"Scroll." Yang corrected

"Library card, student ID, 3 school uniforms, and this letter."

"Whats'it say?" Blake and Ruby asked simultaneously.

I proceeded to read the letter aloud, "You may question why I selected you, but if you're reading this then you must know that I have need of someone who can play the role of a wild card in order to temporarily fill holes in teams in case a member is incapacitated or otherwise unavailable. You will take residence in the dorm-room that you awoke in. This coming saturday, a shuttle is leaving for the city of Vale from Beacon. It is a common occurrence that happens once every three weeks so that students might stock up on supplies. Enclosed you will find a chit for 750 Lien. Take the shuttle to Vale. Purchase clothing, weaponry, armor and whatever else you might need. Best of Luck -P. Ozpin"

I took a breath, and smiled. "Professor Ozpin is a really nice guy." I proclaimed.

"Hah." Wiess spat, "More like he wants to see you killed! What sort of weapon could you possibly buy for less than 750 Lien?"

I shrugged. Only time would tell.


	7. Chapter 6: Learning the Ropes

**Chapter 6: Learning the Ropes**

* * *

I was excited for my first day of school at Beacon. Until I remembered that it was a school.

I set the alarm on my watch for 6:15, giving me plenty of time to get ready and to class by 7. The problem was, Yang told me to go to the history classroom. I never got to chance to ask her where that was. So I tried asking Ruby. Unfortunately, she had just eaten a whole box of cookies, so I couldn't make out a single word she had said.

I was ready and in uniform in twenty minutes. So I decided to wander and ask around to find out where I was supposed to go.

Turns out, with all the commotion and rushing around, getting someone to answer my question was next to impossible.

I had all but given up hope when a girl with pink hair came running past with a thin, black haired young man in tow.

I desperately ran after him and asked, "where's the history classroom?"

He told me, "That's where we're going, follow us."

We made it to the history classroom with just seconds to spare. Not the best way to make a first impression.

The history teacher; Professor Oobleck, was like a trapped mouse on speed. He talked as if he were being rushed, and zipped around the room only to stop to either point at something or refill his cup of coffee.

Looking at the other students in the room, most of them were either half-asleep or furiously scribbling down notes, trying to keep up with Oobleck's mouth.

The students who were half asleep were already rather knowledgeable about the wars that the professor was rambling on about. I understood that going over the same topic over and over was really boring. So they had my sympathy.

I liked Professor Oobleck's lecture. It was so nice going over something that hadn't been beaten into my head 860 thousand times.

The class flew by for me at least. Others unfortunately weren't so lucky.

I was the last person to leave the classroom. Grasping the door handle I heard the professor call out, "Mr. Mansfield"

I turned to face the professor.

"Headmaster Ozpin told me about the circumstances in which you arrived here." He said before he zipped over to me. "Quite fascinating" He said sipping his coffee. "I do hope you intend to share some information about your homeland. After all, imagine what we could learn if we compiled the knowledge about both of our people!"

Oobleck then zipped over to the other end of the room, picked up a history book, and zipped back to hand it to me.

"I do hope you are a fast reader and a quick study. Be sure to read up to chapter 8 by next Wednesday." He paused to take another sip, "Now, I apologize for keeping you, you really should be off to your next class!" he said shooing me away.

Outside the classroom I looked at my watch.

'That whole encounter took about thirty seconds.' I thought.

The next class I attended was Grimm studies. Finding that classroom was far easier, all I did was follow the herd of people into Professor Port's classroom.

This class was the class that had everyone falling asleep faster than if someone had flooded the room with a tranquilizer gas.

Unfortunately for me, I knew nothing about Grimm. I forced myself to stay awake, only taking short naps when Port went into an arduous tangent about his youth.

The class dragged by, with the bell serving as an alarm clock for many students.

The third class of the day was combat training. By far the most entertaining. The class began with two random students being selected to duel one another.

In the match, One student wielded a Halberd that doubled as a shotgun, while the other possessed a kind of Flail that's head could be detatched and used as an explosive.

The match ended in two minutes after the flail user had wrapped the flail's chain around the halberd. Trying to wretch the halberd out of his opponent's hand, the halberd's user used the momentem of the halberd being wretched to deliver a kick to his opponent's face. Thus ending the match.

Professor Goodwitch then commented on the match and delivered a blunt combat lecture.

After class was over, it was lunch time. I got my food, ate and went to my last class with Professor Peach.

All and all, it was a pretty good first day.


	8. Chapter 7: Crazy, Crazy, Crazy

**Chapter 7: Crazy, Crazy, Crazy**

**1,000 READS! WOOOT.** _Thanks to everyone who took the time to read, follow, favorite, and review. I salute you._

* * *

Thursday, (the next day) was rather uneventful. Friday on the other hand was... Odd...

Friday was a half-day, classes were out at around 12:30. After classes I figured it was a good time to get some history reading done. Sitting on my bed, I got cracking.

So, two hours and five chapters later, I had gotten bored. I stood up and stretched.

Gazing out the window, I wondered what everyone else was up to. And speak of the devil, my door suddenly flung open and Ruby burst through.

She grabbed my shoulders and shook me vigorously and begged, "SAVE MEEEEE!"

"Wait, what? What am I saving you from?" I asked with concern.

As if on Que. I heard the combined call of the remainder of her team from down the hall, "RUUUUBYYYYYY!"

Her face turned to one of terror, "PLEASE! I saved you in the forest now i'm begging you! Hide me!"

"RUUUUBYYYYYYY!" The call came again, even closer.

"Alright." I sighed, "Get under the bed!"

"THANK YOU!" She thanked gratefully before diving under the bed.

Thinking fast, I slumped the sheets down to better conceal her. Then I dashed to the window and opened it. Trying my best to look confused as team RWBY charged in.

'What the hell happened?' I couldn't help but wonder while inspecting the team.

Yang lead the group with eyes red with fury, clutching a few precious strands of her golden hair. Wiess followed with her combat gear partially burned and crispy. Finally ending with Blake, who's usual black getup had been tarnished with various white splotches.

Yang grabbed my by the collar of my shirt, and demanded, "WHERE. IS. SHE?!"

"Who? Ruby?" I feigned ignorance. "She barged in and jumped out the window without so much as a 'hello'."

Yang grunted dismissively before leaping out the window yelling, "YOU CAN'T RUN FOREVER RUBY ROSE!"

Wiess jumped out the window after her. Blake prepared to jump, but she hesitated. I could've sworn I saw her bow twitch.

Blake turned a baleful glare on me.

She stepped toward me, "Are you sure Ruby jumped out the window?"

"What are you insinuating?" I asked defensively.

"Well, Ruby saved your life. Maybe you decided to repay her." She took another step forward.

'Damn she's sharp!' I thought with my back against the metaphorical wall. "Alright, if that were true, where could I possibly hide her?" I fired back.

"If you didn't hide her, then you wouldn't mind if I took a look around?" She threatened.

I gulped, "Go for it."

She opened the closet. Either I was delusional, or there was a cross-breeze following her. But I would swear that her bow had moved again.

She turned and looked at the bed. Her eyes narrowed as she strode forward and grabbed the low hanging sheets.

I was out of moves, so I tackled her.

"FLY YOU FOOL!" I cried and quoted.

Ruby burst out from beneath the bed and sprinted out the door.

Blake tried to call out to her team but I quickly and firmly placed my hand over her mouth.

She squirmed, clawed and pulled at my arms and hands. Eventually breaking free, in my desperation to buy Ruby just a little more time, I grabbed at the only thing available.

I pulled the bow off the top of her head.

She looked as if I had just struck her as she tried to cover the cat ears atop her head.

Her face of shock quickly turned to one of anger. Blake glared and half-demanded, "Tell no one of this."

I was too stunned to speak. But she took my stunned look as one of uncertainty.

Her face flushed, and she looked truly desperate.

As I finished processing, the information that was just thrust on me, I honestly wasn't all that surprised. And if Blake wanted to hide her Fanus heritage, i'm sure it was for good reason.

"I give you my word Blake. I won't tell a soul... But could you do me a favor?" I prayed that didn't sound like blackmail.

Color returned to her face and she asked cautiously, "What kind of favor?"

"Would you mind helping me train? I have almost no combat experience outside of firearms. Not to say i'm a bad shot but still."

I handed her her bow. She took it, tied it on and thought for a moment.

"I'm not sure if I should be the one to help you. However, I think I could get Wiess to help you out."

"Thanks Blake." I replied gratefully.

Blake nodded and walked out the door.

I laid on my bed and gazed at the ceiling. 'So... Blake's a fanus... Not surprising...' I smiled, 'And it looks like Blake's attention was taken off Ruby!' I crossed my arms behind my head and nodded to myself.

'You did good self, you did good.'


	9. Chapter 8: Place your Bets!

**Chapter 8: Place your Bets!**

* * *

Sure enough, Blake was a woman of her word.

Later that same night, after finally catching up on the reading that was due on Wednesday, I took a short nap.

My phone started to rumble. I groggily lifted myself up and checked my phone. 'Oh right.' I remembered, 'Verizon Wireless doesn't connect between worlds.' So I checked my blinking scroll.

Opening the device, I checked my new messages. One new message was received from Blake. Saying simply, "I convinced Wiess to help you train. Meet us in the Gym."

I dragged myself out of bed, got dressed in the clothes that I was found in, (after washing them of course) and walked to the gymnasium.

The room was all but abandoned. Blake and Wiess were chatting at half-court while Ruby sat in the bleachers.

I approached the pair, Blake nodded to Wiess and took her seat in the bleachers. "I'm doing this as a favor to Blake, this by no means makes us friends." she informed coldly.

"Thats what she said to me! Look at us now!" Ruby yelled from across the gym.

"I still haven't forgiven you for setting my clothes on fire." She glared.

Ruby hung her head dramatically, "I said I was sorry..."

To break the current conversation I asked, "So what're we doing?"

Wiess attentively picked up a rapier off the ground and handed it to me. "We are going to fence."

A took the sword and gave it an experimental twirl, "I always wanted to learn to fence." I sighed, "Too bad in Maine, the only thing we have close to sword-fighting is either in portland or with sticks."

Wiess rolled her eyes and held up her sword. I raised mine and said questioningly, "En garde?"

Wiess stepped forward and swung the sword, I blocked, and with lightning speed, she brought the sword around and used some sort of weird Jedi magic to strike my sword and send it spiraling across the room.

I furrowed my eyebrows and frowned. Wiess impatiently motioned for me to retrieve the sword.

I picked up the sword and returned to my position. "En garde!" I said with renewed gusto and determination before going on the attack. I took two swings which were both easily blocked. The third however was swiftly parried and sent the rapier (once again!) skittering across the floor.

Wiess lightly shook her head and motioned again for me to pick up the sword.

Turns out I really suck at fencing. Five more times I was disarmed, however each of the five times Wiess added a snide comment. The most recent was, "how exactly did that ursa not kill you? Was it drunk?"

I picked up the sword and groaned. 'I can see why they call her princess...'

Then an idea struck me.

I turned and narrowed my eyes at Wiess. "Let's make a bet." I challenged, "If I win this next round, you have to buy me a pistol tomorrow when the shuttle takes us to vale."

Snorting with derision and sarcasm , "Do you honestly believe you have a chance of beating me?"

"If you don't think I can win, what do you have to lose?" I pressed.

She crossed her arms and thought for a moment, "Fine, when I win, you have to bake me a tray of cookies."

"Yaaaaay!" Ruby cheered from the other side of the gym.

"Which I will set on fire while Ruby is tied to a chair in front of me."

"YOU'RE A HORRIBLE, EVIL WOMAN WIESS SCHNEE!" Ruby cried.

"Done. En guarde!" I said to Wiess.

I felt like I was about to try and pass a low chance speech-check in Fallout 3.

"Wait." I said lowering my sword and switching it to my other hand, "Unless you have the paperwork to authenticate a deal like this in your back pocket, the closest thing to an official agreement we can do right now is a handshake."

Wiess crossed her arms, "I already agreed, A Schnee always stays true to a deal." She said defensively.

"I know, but a physical agreement would make me feel a whole lot better."

Wiess sighed, she loathed unnecessary physical contact. Then, begrudgingly extending her hand.

I shook her hand, but didn't let go. The face she made when she realized her error was priceless.

I pulled her forward and relinquished my grip. Then, I placed my hand around her throat. Pushing her back, I put my leg behind hers and shoved her to the ground while keeping my hand fixed around her neck. She thumped against the ground, I placed one knee on her forearm grasping the sword and the other on her chest. Finally ending by using my free hand to lightly place the blade against her throat.

"I win!"

"YOU CHEATED!" She hissed.

I stood up and shrugged, "You never specified the rules! So I prefer the term, 'Outplayed.'" I gloated smugly.

I stood up and looked at the bleachers grinning all the while.

Ruby was absolutely dumbfounded, so much so that she couldn't finish the nacho in her mouth.

Blake on the other hand allowed herself a small smile to creep across her face.

I turned to face Wiess who had just stood up. I failed to see her foot before it was too late. And a moment later I was crumpled up on the ground tearfully clinging my recently kicked manhood.

I groaned as Wiess stormed away. Ruby and Blake walked over to my pained form.

Ruby consoled, "Sorry Shane! But she REALLY hates losing."

"Y-you're telling me!" I coughed in tears.

Blake patted my back, "At least you get a pistol out of all this."

"I doubt it." I said dejectedly.

Blake shook her head, "Don't worry about it. We'll make sure she stays true to the deal. Right Ruby?"

Ruby nodded.

Out of the weight room came the one member of team RWBY who had been left unaccounted for during this whole enterprise. Yang.

"WHEW!" She declared loudly while drenched in sweat. "What a workout!"

She saw me crumpled on the ground, she didn't care why. All she had to say before running over was, "YOU!"

After making it over to my aggrieved figure she hissed, "You lied to me!"

I closed my eyes, 'Thank god. Someone to put me out of my misery.' I thought while still drenched in pain.

"Leave the poor wretch be Yang." Blake cooed.

Even from my tear filled eyes, I could see Yang melt. "Alright Blake." She agreed half-heartedly before turning and extending her arms for a hug.

"After you shower." Blake scolded.

"Fiiiine." Yang once again agreed.

The duo then left the gym together, not quite hand in hand but close.

Ruby's eyes darted back and forth between the freshly closed door and me. Before pointing both index fingers to the door and saying, "I should probably go."

"Ok" I winced.

She turned to leave but paused for a moment to apologize again, "Again, I'm really sorry about this."

"Not your fault." I croaked out.

"It is." She said stoically, "I'm gonna have to talk to her about this."

Ruby said her farewells and left the gym. I stayed on the floor for around 10 minutes before finally limping back to my dorm and passing out on my bed.


	10. Chapter 9: Rummaging Around

**Chapter 9: Rummaging around**

_Special thanks to: Gunshot2016, KR Accel Max, KorbusDymiker, Enforcer64, and Jehllou for favoriting. _

_More thanks to: C707, Golum936, Gunshot2016, HongChong, KR Accel Max, KorbusDymiker, LMary 52, and Enforcer64 for following._

* * *

The following morning, I checked my watch. It said 8:30, then checking my scroll to sure. I was right, the shuttle was set to leave at 10 o'clock.

I rose, washed up, and went to get some breakfast. I wasn't really hungry, but its the most important meal of the day right? Not to mention, they were serving french toast in the cafeteria.

After eating, I still had over an hour to waste. So, I returned to my dorm, grabbed the Chit of lien provided by Ozpin, as well as my knife and hat, then set off to explore the school grounds.

Turns out theres a lot more to Beacon than I originally thought. The Academy had its own reloading room, filled with around a hundred reloading benches.

The library was pretty standard, nothing all that impressive really.

The gardens were nice and peaceful, often filled with the voices of idle chatting students. Various different strange and colorful plants and flora were scattered around.

Drifting around from place to place, I eventually came to a staircase leading down. I hadn't seen anyone come up from it. Naturally curious, down the stairs I went.

I came to an unlocked doors labeled with big bold letters, **ARMORY **they spelt. Opening the door, I peered inside. Feeling for the light switch, I felt the switch and flicked it on.

The room was illuminated to reveal numerous weapons. All of which were in poor condition, either rusted, rusting, or just plain falling apart.

The weapons were coated with dust, just like the rest of the room.

'Maybe I can save some money by taking one of these, I doubt anyone would mind...' I thought hopefully.

My hopes were dashed when I realized how long it was sense anyone tended to these arms. They were all simple and practical. Swords, spears, halberds, maces, and daggers. None of them were like the weapons that the students carried.

Sifting through the stockpiles of corrupted weapons, almost none were in proper condition. The ones that were just seemed flat out unwieldy.

However, in a chest I did find a couple sharpening stones almost untouched by time. I slipped them in my pocket for safe keeping, and continued searching.

In the end, my attempts were fruitless. Not a single weapon was in working condition or my style. I flicked off the light and walked back up the stairs.

Emerging from the stairs, I almost bumped into Professor Port, the nostalgia wracked grimm biology teacher.

"Oh-ho!" He cried. "Where are you coming from young man?"

I pointed to the staircase, "I found an armory down there." I shrugged, "Honestly I was exploring, but it seems no-one has been in there for quite some time."

Port nodded as his mustache quivered. "Ah yes. The old armory. Truly it has been a long time sense anyone was down there!" He sighed, "A lack of appreciation for weapons and history shall be the doom of this generation."

Nodding, "Anyway, the weapons down there are in horrible condition." I said concerned, "Why haven't they been taken care of?"

"Most all students, with the exception of yourself of course, bring their own weapons to this academy." He nodded thoughtfully, "Students normally have to provide own their own weapons and show exceptional skill with them in order to be accepted into this school. Without a need for extra weapons, the excess ones fall into disrepair."

Port continued ranting as I checked my watch. 9:40 it read.

"It reminds me of a time from my youth-"

"Sorry professor, but I need to be going. I got a shuttle to catch!" I interrupted as politely as possible.

"I understand." He said dejected.

'He was really looking forward to telling the story.' I thought with a twinge of pity.

The shuttle landing was flooded with students eager to head to Vale for one reason or another.

A short time later, the shuttle arrived. As people started funneling onto the shuttle, I glanced around the crowd.

It appears Blake had been trying to get my attention for some time. When she had it, she said nothing to me, nor I to her. All she did was give me a thumbs up. A few moments later, I realized what she meant.

'She actually convinced Wiess to honor the deal.' I thought dumbfounded.

Boarding the shuttle, the trip to Vale began.


	11. Chapter 10: Working with a Budget

**Chapter 10: Working with a Budget**

* * *

The shuttle trip to Vale was fast.

Some blonde guy was casually throwing up while talking with his team. It was also rather clear that team RWBY was wondering if i'd ever flown before. I had, but never in a large air vehicle. Only ever in a biplane.

As the shuttle slowed, the loudspeaker crackled to life, "**Attention Students: All students need to return the shuttle in 8 hours. No later than 6PM**." The message repeated five times before finally silencing.

The Beacon hunters and huntresses dispersed in all directions. The senior students found their way to various bars and taverns throughout the city. The younger ones just went to a nearby supermarket that was around the same size of a Walmart. I took note of that building, I had a feeling I would be going there later.

'First things first.' I thought with determination. "Gotta cash this chit" I said gazing around at the various shops and signs. Thankfully, a nearby bank quickly processed the chit and spat out 750 lien.

Walking down the street and scanning the shops, I finally saw what I was looking for. "Gary Tay's Handmade Arms and Armors."

"Sounds good to me." I commented to no one in particular.

Entering the shop, the bell over the door dinged. I peeked around, I had absolutely no idea what I was looking for. So I decided to talk to the bored guy at the counter.

He was on the taller side, his hair was slick black and had cowlicks on either side of his head. He was dressed in orange and green. A pair of round reading glasses covered his lime-green eyes.

"Welcome to Gary Tay's Handmade Arms and Armors; How may I help you?" He asked with an unmistakeable gloss of boredom.

"Uh hey, i'm looking for some armor and a weapon." I said nervously.

"You don't say?" He said sardonically.

"I may need some help picking out a set of armor."

"Fine." He sighed straightening up, "What did you have in mind?"

Following the rules of shopping I said with gusto, "Cheap, durable and effective."

"What do you want it to be made out of?" He elaborated with his patience fading. "I need a full set, preferably made of some kind of sturdy metal."

His eyes narrowed, "The cheapest set we have is 1,000 lien."

"I don't need a helmet." "Then 800."

"I don't have 800 lien." I frowned.

His hand covered half his face, "I could help you mix and match pieces until you have the kind you're looking for."

"Really? You'd do that?" I said wondering if i'd made a good impression on this guy.

"Yea." He said narrowing his eyes. "It's because I know your type, and you probably won't leave me alone until you get something in your price range."

'Apparently not...' I thought,

"Pretty much!" I said with a smile.

He groaned and asked, "Alright, which part of your body are you most concerned about?"

"My arms I guess?" He grabbed hand, forearm, and brachium (upper arm) armor. "125 lien." He proclaimed. I went to open my mouth, but I was abruptly cut off by him saying, "Don't try to negotiate, this armor is made of material that shields WISH that they could be made of. Lightweight and strong, Ursas couldn't dream scratching this stuff. I've already cut the price by half just so you'll leave faster."

I closed my mouth and squeaked, "What's next?"

"Hmm..." He hummed. He took a set of combat armor off the wall and placed it on the counter.

"I'm not gonna lie, this stuff isn't great but it'll stop a bullet. How many times is up for debate so try not to get shot." Then glared, "You're lucky, Gary has gotten tired of looking at this thing on the wall. So i'm practically giving it to you for 75 lien. Bringing your total up to 200 lien."

I scratched my finger. 'This is getting pricey..."

"The last item on the list leg armor." He said disappearing below the counter. He re-appeared holding a set of leg armor.

"This stuff is pretty average. It holds up well, but avoid stepping on any land mines." Then pointed out, "It's 100 lien."

I nodded with a slight frown, "Alright, i'm good for 300 lien."

"Don't look so down, I've already cut the prices on all this stuff. So whining will only make me raise the price." He scolded coldly.

"Right, Thank you very much!" Feigning grace and thankfulness.

He nodded, "Thats more like it."

I paid for the armor and turned around, gazing at the assortment of weapons. They all resembled the kind of weapons that you'd see carried by students at Beacon.

"How do you think of making all this stuff?"

"HA!" He laughed cruelly and his face darkened. "We don't just make the weapons, they're all custom. The customers tell us what they want or provide blueprints, then we build them under a pre-agreed budget." Growling he said, "Except we build them and the cheap bastards either never come back or they don't pay for them."

"Right..." I said trying not to re-light the man's fuse.

I walked around the store and examined the weapons that caught my eye. The problem was, "all the custom weapons are a reflection of their wielder." I remember Ruby telling me when she eagerly telling me about, "Her baby: Crescent Rose." When a weapon is a reflection of it's wielder, it made to suit their physique, fighting style, specifications and personality. Therefor, it was doubtful i'd find a weapon that suited me.

Doubtful that is until I saw the weapon behind the red glass case. I opened the case and withdrew the ax. It was a solid metal fire ax. It was dull and clearly had never been used, but I liked it.

Bringing it to the front counter and I asked hopefully, "How much for this?"

He scoffed and stifled a laugh, "You're kidding right?" He smiled with blank humor, "You know what, why not? 35 lien."

I tilted my head back and forth and asked, "Could you by any chance make it cooler?"

"What do you mean 'Cooler?'"

"I don't know... Could you maybe make it so that the length of the ax retracts and extends with the push of a button? Like, so it could be a hatchet half the time and the full-length ax the other?"

"HA!" He laughed shaking his head. "I thought you were going to ask me to do something hard!" He waved his hand dismissively, "Come back in two hours with 75 lien, it'll be done."

"Thanks man!" He was surprisingly warm.

Then nodding, he gestured to the door. I walked outside and thought of where to go next.


	12. Chapter 11: Working with a Budget Pt 2

**Chapter 11: Working with a Budget, Part 2**. (First few paragraphs are pretty boring.)

* * *

With 375 out of 750 lien gone or reserved, I decided it was time to buy some clothes at that Walmart looking place I saw earlier.

Upon entry I discovered that my guess was about as accurate as it could have been. The resemblance was stunning, though I didn't much care.

I decided now was the time to get clothes and other necessities. So, I procured a shopping cart and bought shirts, socks and underwear all in bulk, for around 85 lien. Then spent 135 lien on pants alone. After that, I purchased cosmetic crap, (Toothpaste, cotton swabs, razors, shaving cream, shampoo, etc.) For approximately 60 lien.

With only 95 lien remaining, I headed to the checkout. But, i'm terrible with money. When I saw a mini-fridge for half off, I couldn't help myself, so I lifted the box into the cart. Thus dissipated another 65 lien.

In my current state of feeling the money burning a hole in my pocket, I decided I should postpone my checkout and find something to fill the fridge with. In the soft drink isle, I collapsed.

Tears of joy ran down my face, "I can't believe it..." I stammered. Smiling I gazed at the shelf and proclaimed loud enough for the rest of the store to hear, "COCA-COLA EXISTS HERE!"

Snatching up two 24 packs for 15 lien, I threw the cases into the cart.

My senses of responsibility returned when I realized I had only 15 lien left in my budget.

"Shit..." I whispered when I looked at my cart filled with seemingly random stuff.

Biting my lip, the need for school supplies was essential seeing as I would probably be at Beacon for a while. Noticing a nearby salesperson, I decided to ask her the question nagging in the back of my mind.

"Excuse me?"

"Yes? How may I help you?" She asked with rehearsed surprise.

"What's the current tax situation in Vale?"

She showed her true colors, rolling her eyes she commented with derision, "All items purchased in the city of Vale are tax free. Where have you been all these years?"

Exhaling, 'I guess bitches exist no matter what dimension you're in.' I thought ruefully. "Thanks for the help." I lied masking my opinion on her tone.

I pushed the cart to the school supplies section and grabbed up whatever pencils, pens, and notebooks I could so long as they were on sale.

After purchasing all the items I had placed in the cart, I had a little over 7 lien to my name.

Wheeling the cart outside, I nodded at my pile of stuff. 'I did good, I did pretty damn good.'

The glass shattered in my head, "How the hell am I supposed to get all this stuff back to the shuttle?" I face-palmed. Really didn't think that through.

Checking my watch, it read _4:23. _

I grunted and slid bags down my arms, put bags in my mouth and hoisted up the box. Thus beginning the several block journey back to the shuttle dock.

As I turned a corner I heard a screech, "NOOOOOOOOO!"

I looked around the box to see Wiess, Yang and Blake all trying desperately to drag Ruby out of a gun shop.

"Come on Ruby we have to go!" Yang informed sternly between grunts.

"But they're so COOOOL!" She countered with her vice like grip tightening.

'They'll sort this out.' I thought hoping to avoid having to be helpful.

"Psst, Blake?" Yang whispered at her partner, "What's guy name again?" She said looking at me.

"It's Shane!" She groaned slightly annoyed, still tugging.

"HEY SHANE!" Yang yelled in my direction.

'Crap.' I thought with only a few feet from the corner.

"You mind lending us a hand?" She yelled hopeful.

Sighing, I crossed the street and put my stuff down next to the group. Also noting the brown and plastic bags gathered by the four throughout the day.

"So what's up?" I asked already knowing the answer.

"Baby sister here refuses to let go of the door frame!" Yang pouted still tugging at Ruby's feet.

"Just a little while longer?" Ruby begged trying to heave herself back into the store.

"NO!" Her team yelled in unison.

"So what do you need me to do?" I asked whilst watching the three girls pulling at Ruby's feet that remained ungrounded.

"Get her to let go." Blake pleaded.

"Fine." I responded but quickly realized an oppertunity, "I'll help you, but you have to help me carry some of my stuff."

"Deal." Yang grunted still tugging.

Wiess scoffed, "Why do we need his help anyway?" she asked jerking her head at me.

"Because." Yang groaned, "If one of us lets go, she's gonna struggle free. Then we'll gonna be late for the shuttle and we're gonna have to walk back to Beacon!"

Walking inside the store I turned to face Ruby. Her pupils were huge, as she stared in awe at all the weapons that lined the walls, shelves and counters.

First, I tried to pry her fingers from the door frame. No dice, her fingers could've been welded to the door for all I knew. Next, I tried pushing. No success.

For a moment, I pondered my options. Snapping my fingers, I knew exactly what to do.

I shifted my attention to Ruby's midsection. Then began poking her.

"S-stop!" She demanded as I uncovered her weakness.

"Poke." I said as I did just that.

"STOP!" She demanded.

Her grip was weakening, I could see it on her face.

"Pokepokepokepokepokepokepokepo-"

SMACK. Ruby's grip finally failed her as she met the pavement. Her team took the opportunity to drag her away from the store and feed her to Wiess for a thorough reprimand.

After a few minutes, Wiess finished her tear on Ruby, Ruby apologized.

The team thanked me and turned to leave.

"Whoa whoa whoa." I scolded, "Where do you think you're going? You have to help me carry my stuff.

"Nice going Blonde." I heard Wiess mutter to Yang as they turned around.

"Shut up, carrying someone elses stuff for once isn't going to kill you." Yang retorted aiming for the young heiress's wealthy upbringing.

We divided up the items. Wiess refused to allow Ruby or Yang to carry the coke for what might happen. So, she gave the cases to Blake for her to carry. Blake however, was not so fond of the idea. I carried the fridge while Ruby, Wiess and Yang carried the remaining bags.

"One thing. Before I forget." I mentioned to the group jerking my head toward the street where Gary's shop was located. "I gotta stop at Gary Tay's shop to pick up some stuff?"

"Like what?" Ruby asked curiously as her pupils once again began to enlarge.

"You're not going inside." Yang said to Ruby with a loving glare.

"Aw..." Ruby fretted.

The question went unanswered as we drew near the shop. I put my box down.

"Ok, I'll be right back. You guys guard my fridge." I asked smugly walking into the shop.

The young man manning the counter looked as bored as ever.

"Oh, its you." He groaned with the shread of compassion gone. "You forgot your armor." He said picking up the box he crammed the pieces into.

"Oh yea." I reminisced aloud.

"Whatever." He muttered as he bent down to pick up the newly modified ax.

The modifications were beautiful. The axe's head had been removed and repaced with a new ax head of the same shape and size, except this head was of a more combat suited variety. The length of the ax was collapsable and a hand-guard had been installed. The hand-guard didn't completely surround the user's hand but curved up to protect the majority of the hand. It was also competely removable and could be adjusted to any angle.

"Wow..." I complemented awestruck. "All this for 75 lien?"

He responed by jerking his thumb to a sign behind him that read in boldface "**CUSTOMER SATISFACTION GUARANTEED.**"

"Thank you very much." I said paying the man.

As I turned to leave, I heard him say, "Wait."

I turned back around. He handed me a bunch of little plastic bags each containing a little black dot.

"What are these?" I asked.

"Magnets." He stated. "They're sticky on one side. Stick one to your weapon, and one to your belt or armor or whatever."

Nodding, I thanked him again, this time remembering to grab the box that contained my armor.

I stepped back outside to the waiting party of girls.

"So what'd ya get?" Ruby asked with her usual eagerness.

I placed the box of armor on top of my box containing the mini fridge and proclaimed, "Armor."

"And this!" I said showing the hatchet sized ax.

"You bought a hatchet?" Yang asked somewhat concerned.

I smiled and flicked the switch on the side which caused the axe to abruptly extend to full length.

Yang nodded approvingly, "Haxet." She nicknamed.

Wiess disapproved, "Such an inelegant weapon." She critiqued.

"At least I don't wear a skirt into battle." I countered.

"It's a combat skirt." Wiess berated.

"Yeeeaaaah." Ruby commented, as she materialized next to her partner wearing Yang's sunglasses to deliver a fist-bump.

"So can I hold it?" Ruby quickly mutinied.

"Nope. Mine." I dejected.

The five of us gathered our collective items and walked to the shuttle bay for the return flight to Beacon.


	13. Chapter 12: Could you call it Normal?

**Chapter 12: Could you call it Normal?**

_Thank you to KorbusDymkir for providing a perfect example of how to leave constructive criticism. You sir or madam are a damn shining beacon of morality! People should be lining up to shake your hand! _

* * *

We landed at beacon, the flight would've been nice if Ruby hadn't been constantly begging to touch my new weapon:

"Lemme touch it!" She begged, grabbing at the ax.

"No." I replied lightly smacking her hand away.

"Please?"

"NO."

"Just a little?"

"NO!"

"Just once?"

"STAHP."

Ruby eventually gave up and sat pouting. 'It's not as good as Crescent Rose. So why do I want to touch it?' She continually asked herself.

"Well, we're back!" Yang proclaimed. "And we helped you bring your stuff to the shuttle so that does it for us!"

I shrugged, "Ok, thanks guys."

The team sauntered off, leaving me with the task of moving the boxes, cases, and bags of goods I bought mere hours ago.

"Let's see... How to go about this..." I pondered gazing at the pile of assorted things.

Grasping the box with the fridge and the box containing my armor I turned to see the young blonde man whom I had seen chatting and throwing up a few hours ago.

"Hey guy?" I asked in a casual yet polite tone.

He turned and faced me.

"Would you mind guarding my stuff while I bring it to my room?"

"Uh sure, I guess?" He answered uncertainly.

Thanking him, I proceeded to pick up the boxes and my new weapon and brought them to my room. Placing them inside, I doubled back to where I had left the kind young man.

He stood there gazing at the setting sun and the appearing stars.

"I can't thank you enough for doing this." I thanked while extending my hand. "My name's Shane."

"Jaun." He reciprocated shaking my hand. His eyes narrowed, "You know, i've seen you hanging around with team RWBY but I don't remember seeing you around before."

I nodded, "I'm new."

"If you don't mind me asking, how'd you get into Beacon? I don't think i've ever heard of people being accepted after the initiation ceremony."

"Yeaaa. Well, Ruby found me unconscious in the forest after killing an Ursa with a stick and my knife. After she found me, she brought me here. Then I met with Ozpin and he offered me a room." I informed. "How bout' you?"

"Me? Uh- erm..." Jaun stammered, "I-I got in just like everyone else." He lied with a smile.

I knew he was lying but he didn't seem like the malignant type so I didn't pry.

Quickly changing the subject, "I should be going, my team is probably waiting for me." He deflected quickly before hurrying off.

After raising my hand in farewell, I picked up my remaining stuff and brought it to my dorm room.

There was a box on my bed with a note attached.

Picking up the note I read it quietly to myself:

"A Schnee always keeps their word, even to a cheater. -Wiess" Below that, in red pen and different penmanship, read, "She wasn't going to, but after enough nagging and teasing she finally gave in. -Ruby"

I picked up the box and removed the cover. Inside lay a pistol reminiscent of a Colt 1911 along with two spare magazines and a box of ammunition.

Lifting up the handgun, I examined it. There were no embellishments of engravings on it, it was pretty straightforward. But, it was special. Why? Because this one was mine.

The box also contained a holster for the pistol. It was leather and was made to keep the pistol next to your ribcage.

Placing the pistol back in the box, I put the box in the nightstand next to my bed.

Thus I began to pack away my things. Clothes in the dresser, armor in the closet, bathroom items in the bathroom. I also unpacked the fridge and plugged it into the wall, immediately stuffing it with as many soda cans as possible.

After unpacking and packing, the time came to eat dinner.

Eating my fill of ribs and potatoes, I returned to my room and settled down for the night.


	14. Chapter 13: Dream On!

**Chapter 13: Dream On!**

* * *

I regained consciousness in what appeared to be the floor of a sewer chamber. Yang stood across from me, instead of her regular yellow and brown attire, she wore a khaki vest and cargo pants. Her face was partially obstructed by a mask that covered her mouth and wrapped around her head.

"Tell me, do you feel in control?" She asked in a voice that was not her own.

"Maybe?" I halfheartedly responded standing up.

She strode forward, picking me up by the throat and tossing me back against a pillar.

Struggling to my feet, I prepared for her next attack. Yang then leapt forward attempting to slam my head against the pillar.

My legs went limp to fall away from the attack. When she hand missed it's mark, I seized the opportunity to launch a counterattack that took the form of various punches.

She made absolutely no attempt to dodge or block, after 5-6 punches suddenly she grabbed my right hand.

"Wait, I have something to tell you!" She interrupted

Ignoring her, I threw a punch with my left hand, which was also grabbed.

"Stop hitting yourself!" My right hand and arm betrayed me, as she used them as tools to batter me.

After thoroughly beating me with my own limbs, I struggled free. Desperately, I kicked her right knee. She fell onto that knee but didn't break eye-contact. I delivered a second kick to her face-mask, however, she tilted her head to the left and grabbed my leg as my foot flew by.

"I call bullshit!" I whined as she tossed me against a wall and into a puddle.

The puddle began to glow as illegible but brilliant golden letters appeared under the water. Almost instinctively, I placed my hand on the script before being dragged by feet first into Yang's clutches.

As she released her grip on my feet to grapple my head, I rolled over to deliver a swift backhand to her face. Momentarily dazed, she did nothing to stop me from kicking her off.

Staggering up, I stumbled to the nearby light-switch and turned the lights off.

She rose up, though her mouth was covered, it was clear she was smiling.

"Ooh, you believe darkness to be your ally?" She mused, "I was born in it... Molded by it... I didn't see the light until I was already grown and by that time it was but BLINDING" The emphasis she placed on the last word, signified when she had found me in the pitch dark and once again lifted my up by the throat.

"You try to use the shadows but they belong to me!" She screeched administering another punch to the face.

"If that won't work," I gurgled, "then PRAISE THE SUN BITCH!"

Yang turned to see Knight Solaire rise from the puddle that was tapped moments ago.

Growling, she faced her new opponent and spiked me to the ground.

As she and Solaire charged one-another, Ruby and the kool-aid man broke through the concrete wall that lined the makeshift arena.

"OH YEEAAAH!" The duo bellowed in unison.

Knock-knock knock

"NOPE!" I dismissed, "Maximum weirdness reached. Dream over!"

Knock-knock-knock

"Aww..." Ruby whined, "But this was the best part!" She and the remaining scenery began to melt away.

"Maybe another time..." I reassured, as I too melted away.

My eyes blinked open as I took in the familiar scenery of my dorm room.

'I've watched way too much batman and dark souls' I thought to myself recalling the dream hazily.

Knock knock-knock

I stood and dragged myself to the door and opened it to see Professor Ozpin and his iconic cup of coffee.

"Oh hey Ozpin, what's up?" I yawned.

"Apparently, not you." he stated with the slightest hint of humor.

Nodding, I widened the door and allowed him in.

He remained standing as I took my seat on my bed. Then questioning, "I trust you did as I asked and acquired a weapon and some means of defense?"

"I did indeed." I confirmed with pride while opening the nearby nightstand and handing him the box containing the pistol.

Placing his coffee on the nightstand, he withdrew the handgun from the box.

He looked somewhat concerned, "Is this all?"

Shaking my head, I waltzed over to the closet and withdrew the box of armor and the "haxet" as Yang dubbed it. I laid the armor out on the bed and handed the weapon to Ozpin.

Ozpin returned the pistol to the box and placed it on the nightstand next to his steaming morning brew. He then took the ax and gave it a few test swings and experimented with the switch that caused the weapon to expand and retract.

For such a slight man, he wielded the weapon expertly and with surprising ease. "Have you trained with this yet?" He inquired.

"Not yet, but I do like the way it feels."

Nodding, he informed, "That's good. You'd do well to begin training right away, I have a suspicion that your first assignment will be sometime this week."

Without another word, he put the weapon down, picked up his coffee and left the room.


	15. Chapter 14: Effort

**Chapter 14: Effort**

_**This takes place before the events of Jaundice**_

* * *

Ozpin's belief that my skills would be tested sometime that week was a warning that I heeded.

I discovered that sunday was the day that most students took to get in some training. Perhaps, thought I, I could seek team RWBY's assistance once again.

"GOOD LORD!" I heard Wiess's voice echo out in the hallway, followed by the slamming of a door

Peeking out of my room, I watched Wiess drag Ruby by her hood down the hall.

As they passed, I inquired to Ruby, "What happened?"

Her face was blank, (other than her eyes being the size of dinner plates) she continuously repeated, "What has been seen cannot be un-seen..."

Glancing down the hallway, there was only one explanation I could think of. I shook the thought out of my head, that couldn't be it. Could it?

Avoiding team RWBY's room, I sought the cafeteria and by extension, breakfast. I administered a bowl sized dose of Pumpkin Pete's cereal to my mouth. Then proceeded to the library.

I rented a few books on ax etiquette and general combat stuff. Turns out, years of playing video games and reading mid-evil times books actually paid off. As I found myself more and more thinking to myself 'No shit,' or 'this is all common sense!'

Eventually, the tediousness of the books drove me to believe that my time was being wasted. So, I returned the books I had skimmed through and returned to my room. I hadn't bothered to put my armor away so it remained sprawled out on my mattress.

Donning my armor, I remembered that I had yet to put those little magnets I had gotten to use. Rummaging through the pants I had worn yesterday, I uncovered the little plastic bags that contained the tiny magnets. Though they were small, they were surprisingly powerful.

Sticking one to my right-hand thigh plate, and one to my ax, I decided that the magnets strength was strong enough to keep the weapon where I wanted it but not so strong that I would have to struggle if I needed to bring it out in a hurry.

Opening the box that contained my pistol, I withdrew the weapon, slipped on the holster, and took the spare clips.

Throughout Beacon, anywhere you could find ample space, students were sparring. I watched a few matches and discovered how truly outmatched I was. The abilities were inhuman to say the least, and the various faunus also had even further unfair advantages over me.

My shoulders slumped, I was screwed, and the knowledge of this fact helped me none.

"Why the long face?" A familiar and concerned voice asked.

"Hey Ruby."

The Crimson clad girl sad down beside me and gave me a quick once over. "Look at you all dressed up in actual armor!" She said trying rather hard to be social.

"Not like it will help me any." I muttered dejected.

"Why?"

I motioned my hand to the assorted groups of sparring students, "These guys are doing things that I couldn't dream of! Well, I could dream of them but it doesn't mean I can. They're doing everything from teleporting to moving stuff with their minds." My shoulders slumped once more as I accepted defeat.

Ruby pondered this for a moment. "Wait right here." She requested before disappearing in a puff of rose-petals.

I sighed and complied with her request. She was probably trying to cheer me up, but any cheer she brought would no doubt fade when I remembered the truth.

Eight or nine minutes later she returned with Jaun and his team, (Though one member was missing) along with her team as well. "We're going to train you!" Ruby proclaimed stoically.

"Train me? You guys would be lucky if you didn't kill me!" I objected.

"That's why you're going to be sparring with Jaun here!" Ruby stated elbowing Jaun. Jaun just raised his hand in 'hello' and forced a nervous smile.

I shrugged, "How does that make any difference?"

A red haired girl with green eyes dressed in Roman-style armor spoke up,"Jaun hasn't unlocked his semblance yet, so out of all of us, he's probably the fairest fight." She then quickly added, "My name's Pyrrha by the way."

"Couldn't one of you just fight me without using your semblance thingys?"

This time Yang spoke, "Trust us. We just think that Jaun is the closest to your skill level."

"Hey!" Jaun spoke up sounding a little offended. Pyrrha also didn't look too pleased with the blonde's remark.

I gazed at the faces of all those trying to help me. 'If they all think i'm worth the effort to try and help, then who am I to refute their kindness?'

Feeling invigorated, I accepted their offer of assistance, to which Ruby whooped with delight and success.

Jaun and I stood across from each-other. He drew his sword and readied his shield. I responded by drawing my ax and extending it to full length.

Jaundice made the first move in the form of charging forward with his sword over his head and letting out a not-so fierce battle cry. Rather than be terrified, I was confused. After all this time in Beacon, this was the fighting style he used? He brought the sword down with much force, but I simply sidestepped and watched as he grossly miscalculated how much of his strength he should've put into the blow.

Jaun was completely vulnerable, so, I kicked him in his side. He fell over and rolled a few feet before standing back up and regaining his footing. With a much more determined look on his face, Jaun repeated the process only this time putting much less force into the overhead swing. I once more sidestepped, but this time instead of leaving himself open, Jaun continued his attack with a side slash. I brought up my ax to block the swing, then, retaliated with a slash of my own, to which he blocked with his shield.

Jaun and I took a step back. After a short break in the action, I stepped forward and gave a slash of my own. Jaun keenly blocked it with his shield and counter-attacked with his sword utilizing an angled slash. I blocked this between the space of my two hands on the ax, when Jaun went to retract his sword, I used the hand-guard to hit him with a surprise punch to the face.

Momentarily stunned, I swung the ax down and aimed a shot for his ribcage. To which I was greeted by a bright flash of blinding white light, a short feeling of weightlessness and the feeling of my head being slammed against the stone exterior of one of Beacon's many walls.

Then everything went black.


	16. Chapter 15: What is Aura?

**Chapter 15: What is Aura?**

* * *

The world returned to me like walking to the light at the end of a tunnel.

"Ughhhh..." I rose clutching my head along with a brand new bump atop it.

"Look who's back to rejoin the living." Pyrrha rejoiced with surprise and a smile.

Glancing around the room, I noticed team RWBY, along with Pyrrha, Jaundice, and that guy in green.

"How long was I out?" I asked with my head throbbing.

"Around two and a half hours." Blake interjected without raising her eyes from her book.

I fell back onto my back, "I've been here for a week, and i've been knocked out twice! I probably have brain damage or something."

"Look on the bright side!" Ruby brightened, "We found out what Jaun's semblance was!"

Pyrrha nodded, "Yes. Apparently, Jaun's semblance is repulsion."

"That's great." I half-heartedly agreed, holding my head to stop the world from spinning.

"By the way," Jaun added sympathetically, "I'm sorry I accidentally threw you against a wall."

I groaned in acceptance of his apology.

Yang smiled, "Tell me about it, the end of that match was absolutely REPULSEive!"

The room groaned at the sloppily constructed pun.

After groaning for completely different reasons, I sat up once more. I looked around to see empty coke cans littered across the room. "I see you helped yourselves to the contents of my fridge."

"Hey! After lugging your ass back here, the least you could do was show some unconscious hospitality." Yang defended.

"How many did you have?"

Hands shot up representing those who couldn't help themselves. Ruby, Yang, Blake, and Jaun admitted their guilt. While Pyrrha, Wiess and the quiet dude in green remained innocent.

"I don't understand how you people can drink that sugar water." Wiess chided.

"Oh lighten up princess." Yang crossed her arms dismissively.

"Hey! You know what this means right?" Ruby smiled, "Jaun finally won a match!"

"Oh please!" Wiess sneered, "He won by using his semblance against someone who hasn't been here for more than a week. He doesn't even have aura!"

"At least I beat him." Jaundice shot back.

"If I may interject." I interrupted curiously, "What's aura?"

Without a word, everyone in the room, save for myself, began glowing. "Still the odd man out." I muttered feeling out of place once again.

Some smiled, some laughed and others remained totally unmoved.

"So what should we do about this?" Yang asked, thus sparking a debate.

"Well, Pyrrha unlocked my aura." Jaundice informed thoughtfully, "Maybe she could do the same for him."

All eyes in the room turned to Pyrrha.

"Well- I-" Pyrrha stammered not sure how to deal with being the sudden center of attention.

"Wait, wait." I interjected, "If Pyrrha isn't comfortable doing that thingy that Jaun said, then she is absolutely free to not do that. Now if you'll excuse me for a moment." I said rising up to enter the bathroom to violently un-have my breakfast due to a recently added concussion.

After blowing chunks for a good minute or two, I washed out my mouth and returned to the room. The hushed convention that had formulated in by absence was abruptly adjourned. I raised an eyebrow and tilted my head at the group before proceeding to the mini-fridge to procure a coke.

Though I couldn't see it, Ruby nodded. And all at once and in complete silence the group filed out of the room, leaving only Pyrrha and I.

Pyrrha stood up as I turned and sipped my carbonated haven. Scrunching my nose at first due to the flavor being temporarily tainted by recently ejected vomit.

I looked up to see the room near empty, "They're like some kinda ninjas or something." I quietly but humorously noted.

"After discussing with the group, we decided that I should help unlock your aura." Pyrrha smiled.

"Even Wiess?"

She chuckled, "Wiess was the reason we were discussing it in the first place."

"Mmm." I Mmm'd.

"Now then." She stated more seriously stepping forward. "Close your eyes, relax and concentrate."

I closed my eyes, "Concentrate on what?"

"Just focus." She clarified.

Pyrrha placed her hands on my shoulders and began to speak in a clear and rehearsed manner. Though I remember absolutely nothing regarding what she said, i'm sure it was something inspiring and wonderful.

When she finished, I felt different. Strange, though not in a bad way. Looking at my hands I saw that they were glowing a brilliant dark blue. Well, they WERE until the glow flickered, sparked and dissipated.

At first, I didn't notice this as I was a bit more concerned with the fact that Pyrrha looked as though she was about to collapse. "Are you ok?" I asked stepping forward to provide support.

She raised a hand to stop me, "I'm fine. The process is just tiring." She notified with a weak smile.

The door opened once again and the previous occupants of the room re-entered and took their seats. "So how'd it go?" Ruby asked with curiosity and wonder.

I looked at my hands again, they once more began to glow along with the rest of me. But once more, the glowing flickered and faded away in a not-to re-assuring manner. "I think I broke it."

"What happened Pyrrha?" Jaun asked for the group.

Pyrrha's eyebrows met, "I'm unsure. The process went perfectly fine, though I have no idea how much aura he has."

"On the bright side, my headache feels a little better." I added.

A new debate/discussion began, spanning from the topic of aura, to me, souls, books, semblances, and a bunch of other stuff. But eventually, the conversation died down with many people with many different opinions on the subject. Checking the time, it was around 12:30, so the group dispersed. To either do some research, get lunch, finish homework or train.

Pyrrha was the last to leave the room, she got up to leave.

"Pyrrha?" I asked causing her to look at me while I remained seated. I looked up, "Thank you."

She nodded, smiled and left the room.


	17. Chapter 16: What's Next?

**Chapter 16: What's Next?**

* * *

The remainder of that eventful Sunday was spent trying to figure out how to use this aura stuff. Though it never lasted long enough for me to understand how it worked or what to do with it. Irritated and unusually tired, (probably a side effect of aura use) I decided to call it quits early and go to bed.

Blissfully I slept. I did until my door slammed open at midnight.

I stopped mid-snore to look up and see two figures in my doorway. "What's the point of a door if no one knocks?" I asked to nobody as the lights flicked on.

"Sorry Shane." Ruby apologized with a yawn. "It's just that our room is... -erm... how should I put this?..."

"Currently uninhabitable." Wiess finished for her.

"Yea, that." Ruby agreed.

"Why? What's goin' on?" I asked as a few of my faculties returned.

"Blake and Yang are... busy doing things." Ruby answered, clearly not wanting to go into any further depth.

"Like what?" I pressed.

"Immoral things that shouldn't be done in front of anyone, ESPECIALLY teammates!" Wiess fumed with tired exasperation.

"OH MY!" I solved aloud with my best George Takei impression. "Well, make yourselves at home I suppose." I said waving my hand to the corner where I stacked all the excess beds.

A moment passed.

"Well?" Wiess asked impatiently.

"Well what?" I returned matching her tone.

"Wieeesssss." Ruby pleaded quietly.

"We're your guests, shouldn't you help us move the beds?"

I sighed and stood up. I was too tired to argue though I wanted to. I walked over to the corner and lifted up a bed and placed it in the corner while the two teammates did the same with another bed.

I returned to my bed and collapsed. Honestly, this whole encounter wasn't as strange as you might think. I was in a strange world with lots of strange things. So strangely, the strangeness seemed not all that strange.

"Night." I heard Ruby call out.

"Goodnight." Wiess replied evenly.

"Gerherbebuhluh." I stammered out as I returned to the grand world of not awake.

The night passed in a flash, and before I knew it, I heard the familiar beeping of the alarm clock on my watch. Slapping the watch to silence it, I sat up to see my two guests still asleep.

Ruby looked surprisingly at peace. While Wiess on the other hand had one arm drooped of the bed and was drooling on her pillow.

It was too perfect. Wiess who carried herself in such a prestigious manner looked absolutely bohemian. I snatched up my scroll and quietly snapped a picture. 'Could come in handy some day.' I thought evilly before lightly tossing the device on the bed.

"It's time to wake up as it is MORNING!" I declared putting emphasis on the final word.

"Nooooo." Ruby whined weakly clutching her pillow.

Wiess simply sighed and straightened up.

"Hey Wiess? You got a little something right here." I informed pointing to the side of my mouth.

She rubbed her mouth and her face turned from one of exhaustion to one of mortification as she discovered the strand of drool on both her cheek and her pillow.

Her face reddened as she fled the room.

"Wieesssss..." Ruby groaned crawling out from beneath her covers. She stood and stumbled out of the room muttering some form of thanks.

I gathered my things, dressed accordingly and proceeded to my first class. On my walk down the hall, I saw Wiess chewing out Blake and Yang. Blake looked ashamed with her head sagged in shame. While Yang clearly didn't care about anything Wiess said. She was too busy beaming.

The school day came and went. Nothing all that interesting happened, other than one student randomly running out of Port's class of some odd reason.

As I walked back toward my dorm, I felt my scroll vibrate. Opening it, I discovered a message from Miss Goodwitch asking me to report it Ozpin's office tomorrow afternoon.

I was a little worried, as most people would be if they were asked to meet the person who could end their future with a word. But not going wasn't an option.

I hadn't done anything wrong right?


	18. Chapter 17: But How?

**Chapter 17: But How?**

* * *

Tuesday was a school day. It seems unending during, but after it seems like it was an instant.

After eating lunch, everyone herded into the auditorium for another of Miss Goodwitch's combat lectures and exemplifications. Yet there was no duel like all times prior. I didn't much like Miss Goodwitch, she seemed blank and disconnected. Almost as if she had no sense of humor. For these reasons, I was always relieved when her class came to an end.

Today however, I knew that I would be seeing Miss Goodwitch again seeing as she was Ozpin's right hand woman.

Immediately following class, when I normally would've gone back to my dorm to do whatever it is I had/wanted to. Which was usually not much. Instead, I ventured to the headmaster's office.

Knocking on the door, I heard Ozpin permit my entrance. Inside, Ozpin sat with papers in one hand and a mug of coffee in the other. Glynda stood to his right with perfect posture and no emotion.

Without looking up, Ozpin motioned for me to sit in the chair across from him.

About two minutes past before Ozpin finally finished reading and decided to speak. After 30 seconds of waiting, I had begun to listen to Queen in my head. One of the few things I could do that people found really strange.

"Mr. Mansfield?" Ozpin inquired.

"Huh?" I broke from the musical daydream. "Yes Professor?"

"How are you?" He asked.

'Oh no! He's being casual!' I panicked, 'He's trying to lull me into a false sense of security so he can nail me with a left-field serious question! He's a one man good-cop, bad-cop. A mastermind of the highest degree!'

"I-I'm good." I lied trying to not allow my nervousness to show through, "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you for asking." He politely replied. "Let's get down to business."

'I KNEW IT!'

"How are you enjoying your time at Beacon?" He began.

"Uh, well it's never dull, I'll say that much. The other students are friendly and kind for the most part." I answered. 'Not to say it's not plagued by a few raging assholes like most schools.'

"Mmmhmm" He sipped his coffee. "What are finding interesting?"

"Well, lots of stuff. Most of the classes are enjoyable and I learned about this aura stuff." I then tried to use my aura only for it to malfunction again and sizzle out. "But I think mine's broken." I said pointedly.

Ozpin looked to Miss Goodwitch who returned his stare. "I see." He said turning back.

'Maybe I shouldn't have said that.' My face turned to one of distress

"Next question." He changed the subject when he saw my face. "How-"

"Professor, if I may." Glynda cut in, "I believe this questionnaire has gone on long enough, may we finally get down to business?" She was impatient and otherwise rude. But, she spoke with such authority that Ozpin had apparently learned to live with.

Ozpin sighed but kept his tone even, "Student feedback is important Glynda. But if you believe we should be moving on then fine." He paused and sipped, "You will be temporarily filling in for a member of team JNPR."

"Why?"

"A member of the team fell ill today. Today was also the day of a mission assigned to them over two weeks ago. So while they are otherwise incapacitated, you will be filling the gap." He explained.

"Ok."

"Return to your room and gather whatever equipment you might need and report to team JNPR's room. That will be all." He instructed then picking up another paper.

I left the room and stood on the other side of the door. "I did it!" I proclaimed feeling proud that I wasn't somehow horribly mutilated.

I walked to my room, grabbed my armor, weapons, and "Fanny pack" and made for JNPR's room. I stopped briefly for a moment when I looked out a window for a moment to see all the students going about their lives. And wondered where I fit into all of this.

I felt a pang of depression so I didn't linger near the window for any longer. I finished my journey to team JNPR's dorm.

Rather than barge in, I actually KNOCKED. Something apparently unheard of when it comes to privacy in the student body.

Pyrrha opened the door, "Oh, hello." She greeted with her usual politeness before letting me in.

I stepped inside, "Jaun." I nodded at him while he sat sharpening his sword. "Pyrrha." I nodded at her while she sat next to Jaun. "Green guy who'snameIdon'tknow." I nodded at said person.

"Ren." He corrected.

"Aaaaaaand..." I blanked looking at the final bed-ridden member of team JNPR whom was clutching a bucket.

"NORAHHGGLLL-" She partially exclaimed before throwing up into her beloved bucket.

"Nora." Ren cleared.

"What happened to her?" I asked Jaun.

"She mistook a vial of white dust for salt." He informed

"It was soo goooood though!" Nora cheerily defended before throwing up a little more into her bucket.

"Riiiiight." I confirmed before changing the subject, "What's dust?"

The room's occupants looked at each other before Pyrrha finally said,"Wiess would probably be the person to tell you about dust."

"Why's that?"

"She is the heiress of the Schnee dust company, the largest dust distributer in the entire world." Ren explained.

I shrugged before coming to an odd realization.

"Hey guys? Ozpin wanted to see me yesterday to talk about going on this mission. But Nora only just got sick today."

The room fell silent.

"Ya don't think maybe-" I started.

"No, I don't think Ozpin would do something like that. Well, I don't THINK he would, but he wouldn't right?" Jaun questioned.

Right?


	19. Chapter 18: Engage and Encounter

**Chapter 18: Engage and Encounter **

* * *

After a few moments of silence regarding Ozpin's possible diabolical nature, Ren of all people broke the deafening quiet.

"I believe its time we set out." He instructed the group. We nodded in agreement and headed out.

To the edge of the Emerald Forest we walked. "So what are we even doing?" I asked Pyrrha.

"A pack of beowolves have been plaguing a nearby town." She scowled before continuing, "they killed a farmer and his family while they were working in their field. After a few townspeople tracked them to a spot within the forest, they asked to police to help. The problem is, the police are not equipped to tackle these foes. And hunters and huntresses have bigger threats to take care of. This is where we come in, we do what they are unable to."

"Mmm. Ok, I understand." I recognized that Pyrrha was very passionate about defending people, and people dying obviously got to her. She wasn't angry per-say, more along the lines of distraught.

We continued to hike through the woods. Jaun stopped when he stepped on some grass that was oddly crunchy. He looked down.

"Look here, this grass is bloodstained." He said worried that perhaps someone else had been killed.

Pyrrha was thinking the same thing, her anguish deepened until I spoke up. "Hey wait a minute!" I said looking around at the strangely familiar forestry. "This is were I woke up!"

A string of questioning faces turned to me.

"Yea!" I exclaimed, "When I woke up my nose was bleeding, and my face was right there." I said pointing at the ground near Jaun's feet. It hadn't rained sense I showed up so the blood hadn't been washed away.

I then re-traced my steps and explained what happened. Eventually emerging into the small clearing that contained a small boulder. "I was right there." I said pointing at the small boulder before walking over to it and sitting down in the same way I was over a week ago.

"What happened next?" Jaun asked wondering as to the conclusion of the story.

"Well, the three Ursas began to close in. I pretty much gave up seeing as I was only armed with this knife." I explained opening the pocket-knife. "Then out of nowhere, I heard rustling, swipes and gunshots. I opened my eyes and blearily saw Ruby standing over the Ursas. Then I passed out and woke up in Beacon."

"That's some story." Jaun nodded.

A few seconds passed until Ren once again broke silence, "We should be going." He stated in his iconic Ren-like way.

"Absolutely." Pyrrha said while Jaun nodded.

"One second." I partially agreed extending the blade of my knife. I dug my knife into the stone of the boulder leaving my initials.

"What's that for?" Pyrrha asked confused about random knife dulling.

"What's the word i'm looking for..." I asked while looking at Pyrrha's face. "...SENTIMENT!" I exclaimed when I found the answer.

"If you're looking for sentiment, talk to Professor Port." Ren joked with the smallest crack of a smile.

The quick joke caught us by surprise. Ren, the quietest and least social of the group had just made joke. All understanding about life and the universe stood still for a split second before Jaundice decided to be the hero and return us all to reality.

"We should go." He ordered the group. We silently agreed and left the clearing.

Jaun continued to lead the group with scroll in hand, checking it to ensure we were headed in the right direction to the supposed grimm nest.

"We're getting close." He assured the group.

'We've been walking for two and a half hours. We'd better be getting close.' I thought but dared not express aloud.

We came to yet another clearing. Tree branches loomed overhead, and a large thicket lined the woods on the other end of the clearing. We walked forward until Ren suddenly stopped and grew his pistols. "They're here." He warned.

We drew our weapons and looked in all directions. The beasts sensed we were onto them and emerged from hiding. Growls and howls marked our trespassing, we were surrounded.

We silently took formation, each facing a different direction. "What're your orders captain?" I asked Jaun without turning.

"Ren, How many do you see?" Jaun peeked at Lie Ren who stood with a slight frown.

"I count around thirty in total." Ren replied.

"Seven point five for all of us." Pyrrha stright-faceidly calculated.

I lowered my ax for a moment to draw and load my pistol. Then I pulled back the slide, and placed it back in the holster, but kept the safety on.

"Pyrrha change your sword to a rifle." Jaun ordered and Pyrrha complied. "Shane, you and I are gonna move forward in both directions, when we do, the wolves will attack. Ren, You and Pyrrha are gonna cut down the ones that break off to attack us." We nodded in understanding. "On three."

My heart was going to pound through my chest.

"One."

Life or death.

"Two."

'If i'm going to die then i'll at least take a few with me!' I mentally screamed clutching my ax tighter.

"Three!" Jaun ran forward in his direction while I did the same in the oppisite.

The forest erupted with gunfire. Beowolves that had broken off to chase down Jaun and I were swiftly dealt with by Pyrrha and Ren before they soon had grimm upon them.

I charged forward to meet a Beowolf that had remained unscathed through the shooting. It leapt at me so I swung my ax to meet it in midair. With a satisfying "THWACK" the monster was undone and thrown to the ground.

A second beowolf moved in to avenge his comrade, he met with a very similar fate.

The third however moved in unabated, I couldn't bring the ax up in time to intercept it. So instead I brought up my forearm in defense. The abomination tackled me to the ground and tried to bite though the hard metal that guarded my forearm. Thankfully, the man who sold me the armor wasn't exaggerating when he spoke of its quality.

Flipping the switch on the side of my axe, the length shortened to hatchet length. I swung the blade in an arc and caught the side of the beowolf's neck. The monster died on top of me.

Pushing the body off, I saw yet another beast running toward me. I fumbled to my holster and drew the pistol. I switched off the safety and took aim. With a satisfying, "POW" the pistol recoiled and dropped the beowolf mid-stride.

I stood and took aim with the handgun once again. Firing four more times at approaching enemies I took down three.

I picked up my ax and dashed forward. Swinging at a new beowolf, it dodged out of the way and leapt at me. I recoiled and kicked the monster, knocking it back for a moment so I could regain my footing. It circled me and growled, I did the same to it. Then I collapsed the ax to free a hand, I then used that hand to draw my pistol and shoot it.

I had a moment to look at my comrades, they were still fighting and holding their own without trouble.

I two-handed my pistol and fired at any beowolves I could before running out of ammunition and needing to reload. I reloaded and holstered the firearm. I brandished my ax two-handed, and fought yet another beowolf.

This one took an entirely different approach, instead of trying to bite me, it used its claws primarily. It got as close as possible, waiting to jump only after I took a swing. I would swing, then it would neatly jump back or to the left/right then pounce. Forcing me to hurl myself out of the way and scramble to my feet.

This went on for maybe fifteen seconds before I decided to swing very lightly. The beowolf once again jumped back and leapt forward. Without much momentum behind the blade, I quickly re-directed it and caught it in mid-jump. This beowolf was resilient and began to try and get up but was cut off by me slamming the blade into its back like I was chopping wood.

I turned around to see a beowolf running at me, I brought up my ax to block it but the beast was stopped mid-stride by a bulled Pyrrha administered to its shoulder.

My compatriots had were finishing with their final opponents. We gathered where we began. I sat down next to Ren who had collapsed onto his back. Jaun remained standing though his shoulders sagged, while Pyrrha stood as if she had hardly broken a sweat.

I opened my pack and removed a canteen of water, took a sip before offering it to Ren who graciously accepted. We passed the water around before I replaced it and brought out a small bag of trail-mix.

"Trail-mix anyone?" I rasped while still trying to regain my breath.

Pyrrha took a handful, Jaun passed and Ren inhaled half the bag. "Are you ok Ren?" I asked with growing concern.

Pyrrha opened her scroll and stated plainly, "He used up too much aura. He has a habit of doing that."

After about five minutes of eating trail-mix and talking, it was time to start heading back to Beacon. As we retraced our steps, I didn't know what to say/do.

So I sang the intro to Lights by Journey. No one objected because they never heard the song before.


	20. Chapter 19: Mission Accomplished

**Chapter 19: Mission Accomplished**

_Just broke 5,000 reads! I love everyone! Except for you Jack... Put on your pants. _

* * *

Why is it that the return trip always seems shorter? Even when 75% of the group was dead tired after killing upwards of thirty beowolves.

I found it odd that out of all of us, Ren was the most tired. He was no doubt the most nimble and agile of the group. Could overuse of aura really be so exhausting?

Jaun was covered with the most blood, closely followed by me. Pyrrha only had a few drops and Ren was completely unstained though he didn't have a shield and was partial to close combat.

Either way, we were back at Beacon in a few hours with the setting sun at our backs. Though the whole endeavor felt like it took maybe an hour in hindsight. We walked to our respective dorms and said our goodbyes, except for Ren, who remained quiet and tried not to show just how tired he was.

Returning to my room, I entered my bathroom. I took off my armor, put on a towel, and ran a bath. I don't take baths but my armor was bloodstained so I decided to clean it to avoid rust. Then I took a shower.

Emerging from the bathroom some time later, I went to bed. Sleep found me quickly and the dreamless void was rejuvenating.

Until I heard whispers.

I wasn't dreaming, that much I knew. But rather than bolt up and declare my awareness, I did my best to keep my breathing the same and cracked open my eyes just enough so I could look around.

"Just keep quiet!" I heard a hushed voice command.

"I am quiet! You're the one who's talking!" A second voice protest.

Yang and Wiess?

"We shouldn't be here!" Wiess near silently objected.

"I can't leave here until i've found them!" Yang quietly reminded.

I couldn't pass up this perfect opportunity.

"Besides-"

"You believe darkness is your ally?" I asked with a near-perfect Bane impression.

"What the FUCK was that?!" Yang asked aloud with all needs for discretion abandoned.

I chuckled, 'all too easy.' I thought smugly before clicking on the bed-side lamp.

The room illuminated to reveal Yang crouched on the ground feeling around with Wiess standing near her with her arms crossed.

"I have to know, what IS the point of a door if no one ever knocks?" I sarcastically scolded, "It doesn't surprise me that Yang is here, but you Wiess? I expected better."

The heiress's face turned red before she grunted in exasperation and stormed out. Yang chuckled before resuming her search.

"So what is it you're looking for?" I yawned.

"My motorcycle keys." She answered plainly.

"Why would your motorcycle keys be in here? And why did no one tell me you had a motorcycle?" I questioned.

"Why would anyone tell you I had a motorcycle?" She asked dodging the question.

"It seems like something that would come up in casual conversation. Now why would they be in here?" I asked again.

"Because I was in here earlier." She answered safely.

"And you were in here because?..." I pressed onward. She just looked at me with a smile filled with smug satisfaction.

"Oh good god." I face-palmed. "Jus-"

"FOUND 'EM!" She proclaimed then dashed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

I felt my eye twitch before switching off the light. 'Why is all this happening to me?'

The next morning, it was morning. My feet were sore, I was sore, and I had classes. But as I was getting dressed, my scroll blinked and rumbled.

I received an e-mail from Ozpin, which read.

_Congratulations on the completion of your first mission. You're still alive so I trust the mission went well. Do not believe that all your missions shall go this easily or you will die. You have a long way to go, longer than most anyone else here. Good luck. -P. Ozpin_

I sighed in understanding. It was true, I did have a very long way to go before I could even consider myself to be anywhere near the same level as any of the other students. But first and foremost, I had a class to attend. Perhaps tomorrow I could see about getting more training.


	21. Chapter 20: Best Served Cool

**Chapter 20: Best Served Cool**

* * *

Professor Port and Grimm studies, both important and boring at the same time. Like math, except much more relevant. Though Professor Port's wild tangents that take up half the class do bring it a step closer to math.

"Mr. Mansfield?" Professor Port called out.

"Hmm? Yes?" I responded out of habit knowing that I had missed something due to zoning out.

"Care to answer the question?" He knew I hadn't been paying attention.

Looking around, people knew I hadn't been paying attention and were curious as to how i'd get out of this.

"The thing is," I said carefully, "You've already explained this, so why waste time asking me a question we all know the answer to?"

His mustache ruffled, "Simply so I can confirm that you were paying attention."

"It's good to know you care."

A few smirks and giggles were heard from behind me.

Professor Port loudly sighed, he knew that I was more than capable of wasting the precious class time reserved for actual learning.

Minutes later, the bell of freedom sounded resulting in Wiess administering her Iron-clad grip on Ruby's shirt. The past few days, Ruby, for some reason or another has been using her semblance to bolt out of the room, scattering papers and rose-petals all over the classroom.

Filing out of the class, I saw a brief nod of gratitude from professor Port to Wiess. A smile crept across Wiess's face. "She can smile?!" I mumbled my disbelief and shock to myself. I walked slightly slower than the other students on account of my callused feet.

Ruby wore an over-exaggerated look of shame and defeat. I tried to catch Ruby's eye, and thankfully succeeded. She looked at me with her huge silver eyes and I winked. I very much enjoyed screwing with Wiess, though most other people avoided pissing her off at all cost.

"I don't know much about dust, but I don't think it's a good idea to be shaking a jar of it like that." I said intentionally louder than usual.

Wiess's instincts sprang to life as she turned to reprimand the non-existent fools. Her grip loosened just enough for Ruby to spring free and run for the hills.

Onto me Wiess casted her patented icy glare. But no amount of ice could freeze the feeling of warm glee that came from disobeying the heiress. Yet, it did feel like the hallway got colder.

Wiess ran off after Ruby while trying to retain the elegant standard she held herself to.

Happily I whistled to my room, then slid the keycard into the slot. There doesn't seem to be much point to keycards if any key can be used to open any dorm. I suppose privacy wasn't much of a concern to whoever built this place.

I opened the door and slumped my various books, notebooks and folders onto the unused dresser next to the door. "Ah yes, sweet relief." I removed my shoes and fell onto the floor and relished the cool hardwood against my face.

Knock-knock-knock

"Nooooooo..." I moaned to the floor before standing up. Opening the door I was greeted by Pyrrha's smiling face. "Hullo Pyrrha." I greeted.

"Hello to you too." She cordially replied. "This is for you." She informed handing over an envelop.

I pursed my lips and looked it over. It was plain, white and unsealed. I opened it and reached inside. My fingers met papers, as I pulled out a thin stack of lien.

"What's this?" I asked with curiosity and slight awe.

"Payment."

"For what?"

"The mission that we went on a few days ago." She said with her smile waning.

"We get PAYED?" I asked in disbelief.

She nodded looking a little worried, "I'm sorry I thought you knew."

"No, but this is BADASS!" I declared trying not to bounce.

Pyrrha smiled again and scratched the back of her head, "Well being a hunter is a career so it's only fitting we get paid for doing such work. Although the school takes a sizable cut."

"Coooool." I responded counting out the 166 lien that had been handed to me.

Pyrrha looked a tad worried, "Well, i'm not totally comfortable being paid to fight Grimm. I believe that it's our duty to fight the forces of evil. Even if we have to do it for free." She stated with an air of moral superiority.

"Well if you're so against being paid, i'll take your share." I joked.

"Actually, I already divided up my share between you and team JNPR."

"That's really generous of you Pyrrha." I complemented with surprise while feeling a bit of faith in humanity being restored.

"I do already make a sizable amount from being on the cover of Pumpkin Pete's brand cereal." She mumbled guiltily.

"Oh yeeeaah, that is you! I can't believe I never put that together. Maybe I do have brain damage..." I wondered aloud.

Pyrrha nodded and asked, "By the way, how's the aura training going?"

"It's not going to well, it still keeps fizzling out." I said looking at my hands to see the familiar glow and fizzle.

"I'm sorry to hear that." She apologized.

"Oh, Pyrrha, while you're here, would you mind helping me train later?" I petitioned hopefully.

Pyrrha smiled again, "Certainly. I enjoy helping those in need."

"Well I figured you must be pretty good at fighting if you're on a cereal box."

Pyrrha almost laughed as she bid farewell. I did the same and returned to laying on the floor.


	22. Chapter 21: Gimmie Three Steps

**Chapter 21: Gimmie Three Steps.**

_The recent demand for longer chapters made me write this one. Which is three times the usual length but took me three times as long to write. If you guys like it better this way, let me know. If not, then just say so._

* * *

Jaune was busy doing something or other, and whatever it was, it got to Pyrrha. She entered the gymnasium with a not-to pleased look on her face. When she got close to me she did her best to regain her composure and look calm.

I didn't like seeing someone normally so pleasant in distress. "What wrong Pyrrha?" I asked.

"Hmm?" She was clearly surprised that I had noticed, "Nothings' wrong." She lied forcing a half-smile.

"Riiight."

"Shall we begin?" She requested obviously wanting to change the subject.

I nodded and drew my ax, extending it to two-handed length. Pyrrha drew her sword and brandished her shield. "Hmm, your stance looks right. So lets start with a bit of easy sparring." She suggested.

I nodded. We began to circle each other, Pyrrha's face turned serious. Clearly years of training much like this had brought her to the high quality that made her a cereal-box celebrity.

I made the first move, a simple overhead diagonal swing. Which she promptly deflected with her shield and counter-swung. I took a little hop back before hopping forward again and bringing the ax down vertically.

Pyrrha could've been asleep for all I knew, but unlike Wiess who just wanted me to quit via humiliation, however Pyrrha continued to humor me. She gradually continued to increase the speed of her swings, forcing me to dodge and block and varying speeds.

You know that zoned in feeling you get sometimes? It's like being focused, but a step above that. I had that feeling which is the only real reason why I was able to keep up with Pyrrha. She on the other hand was completely zoned out. She obviously had other things to focus on.

Unfortunately, I didn't notice this at first. I only noticed this when her expression slowly turned from one of considerate thought to one of irritation and mild anger. Her attacks grew in strength and ferocity. I was hardly keeping up to begin with, this was just ludicrous.

"Pyrrha!" I begged. She couldn't hear me, she was somewhere else entirely, and wherever it was, it wasn't pleasant. She swung, bashed, kicked, and chopped. If I had turned my back, she would've ran me through. So my only option was to back-pedal and deflect as many of the maelstrom of blows as I could.

I formulated an idea. I was getting sluggish and would probably be killed if i didn't do something. She wasn't listening to me no matter how many times I tried to talk sense into her. I jumped back and retracted my ax, she stepped forward to continue her onslaught. I pointed my ax forward and drew my pistol.

I flipped the switch on the ax again, causing it to spring to full length. Pyrrha reacted by stepping to the left and bringing up her shield as I hoped she would. _**BANG** _

Pyrrha looked very confused at the sound of the gunshot. "Jesus Christ Pyrrha!" I heaved, "were you TRYING to kill me?" I collapsed onto my knees and looked at my forearm armor along with all the new scratches and dings. "If I wasn't wearing these i'd probably be dead."

"I am so SORRY!" Pyrrha collapsed next to me and began to hug. "I don't know what came over me! It's just that Jaun and I were on the roof and he said some things and-"

"I thought you said nothing was wrong." I teased between breaths.

Pyrrha was almost in tears, "I'm sorry."

"Its okay Pyrrha, i'm fine. I probably have a few cuts and bruises but other than that i'm ok. YOU on the other hand need to see a psychiatrist or something."

Pyrrha looked depressed. My attempts at cheering her up clearly weren't working. So we sat in silence for a few minutes.

I pulled back my armor and checked my watch. _9:22. _We both had classes tomorrow so I took the initiative and stood up. "We should get going."

"I'm still sorry." She apologized again.

"Jeez, you sound like a stereotypical Canadian."

"What's that?"

"Never mind."

We parted ways and I went to bed, between the two of us, i'm pretty sure I got the better nights' sleep.

The next day was pretty standard, though I had a history test. Passed with an 87. Didn't do the best but I didn't do the worst. Wiess of course had the highest grade, which surprised no one. Some guy in glasses placed second with Pyrrha and Blake tied for third.

I confirmed my greatest suspicion that day: I was surrounded by assholes. That lunch block, I discovered just who they were. With my burger and milk on my tray, I took my seat. I sat away from Team JNPR and RWBY, I felt that being there alone just screwed with that dynamic they had.

Anyway, as I sat alone at that table eating my food, I saw a brown rabbit-eared fanus girl walking her lunch tray only for some tall scumbag to walk over and smack the tray out of her hand. He along with his team had a nice big laugh about it and waltzed off, leaving her looking crestfallen.

She didn't say anything to them, didn't call them names, make threats or stab them in the eyes with a spoon. She just stood there with her ears wilted looking down at her food. I guess this was commonplace for her.

I've always been a decent judge of people at first sight, and by just seeing how she reacted, I knew she hadn't a mean bone in her. One thing I hate more than seeing a decent person wronged, was knowing that sometimes I couldn't do anything about it.

But a little money and some good will can go along way towards making friends. When she sat down and let her jaw fall into her hands, I stood up. Walking past where her lunch had been decimated, I took a quick look at the items being cleaned up. Salad, dressings, and juice. Pretty boring but people like different things.

Marching through the lunch line a second time, I bought an identical set of food for five lien. I knew she knew I was behind her, because as I approached she didn't turn but she pulled her ears down onto her head. Needless to say, she was both confused and hesitant about the food I placed in front of her.

"You're not gonna pull my ears or hit me?" She asked with puzzled.

"I didn't plan on it. Why? Should I?"

She kept the suspicious look even when she had picked up her fork and started eating. She didn't take her eyes off of me even when I got my food and sat across from her, and ate as well.

When she had just about finished, she spoke again, "Why did you do this?"

I took a moment to consider how to word it, "Well... I don't think you're a bad person, and you were just trying to eat but something shitty happened to you. I don't think that's right or fair so... Yeah." I shrugged as I said the last word.

"So you're an everyday saint?" She sarcastically accused.

"Why is it so hard for people to believe that people can just do nice things for each other?" I asked the ceiling.

She seemed to realize what a bitch she was being, "I'm sorry, it's just i'm not used to things like this. Usually its quite the opposite."

I nodded then stated, "My name's Shane by the way."

"Velvet."

We sat and made pretty boring small talk for a while before heading our separate ways. The remainder of the day was as average, well, as average as a day could be in a place like this. A match in the auditorium, and a biology class, before retirement to my room.

I didn't have much to do so I held a few cold cans of coke against my bruised arms and my feet. I laid there, read a book and thought about taking up some sort of hobby. I used to play the ocarina a bit, but I wasn't sure if I could get an ocarina on remnant.

BANGBANGBANG

"Aw cheese, let's see who it is." I said standing up, then walking to the door.

I opened it to be greeted by the entirety of team Ruby, headed by Yang.

"Hello!" Yang greeted.

"Hullo." I greeted in return.

"This is for you." She informed handing me a can of soda.

"Why, thank you~!" I happily accepted the drink and cracked it open. The drink immediately exploded and shot liquid everywhere. Yang had taken a step back in order to get out of the blast radius.

"April Fools!" Yang cried and began to lean on her sister for support. The two sisters began to laugh, Blake stood with her back against the wall, shamefully hiding her smile behind a book. Wiess stood in the corner trying to look disgusted, but I could tell she was doing celebratory mental cartwheels of revenge.

I loudly sighed and wiped soda out of my eyes with two fingers. "I've never been truly pranked on april fool's day. I didn't even thing this holiday existed here. But now you must know that I must exact my vengeance."

Yang was too busy laughing to care. So I simply nodded and closed the door.

"Let the games begin." I impersonated Bane once again before taking a shower.

As the water dripped down my shoulders, the plotting phase began. 'Perhaps I could break into their room? Bah, no chance, Blake and her fanus ears would surely detect me before I could do anything.'

After showering, I stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel brightly embroiled, "**PROPERTY OF BEACON ACADEMY.**"

Sitting on my bed I began to brainstorm with myself aloud, as is my custom. "If i'm going to get revenge, I need to properly disguise my true intent..." My voice trailed of as I continued to think. 'I may need to enlist the help of others as anything generous that I do will only arouse their suspicion.'

I dressed and left the room, help was exactly what I went to get.

I knocked on a door, which was opened by none other than Lie Ren himself. "Can I help you?" He tentatively asked.

"I believe you can."

Ren stepped back to allow passage. Nora was jumping on her bed and humming to herself, while Pyrrha sat cross-legged on her bed reading a book.

"COMPANY!" Nora excitedly cheered. She bounced one last time before leaping off the bed and performing a perfect front-flip to land next to Ren.

Following Nora's announcement, Pyrrha looked up to see me applauding Nora's front-flip. "Welcome." She greeted with a smile.

I nodded to Pyrrha then sat on the windowsill, Ren and Nora took their seats on Nora's bed. Ren brushed Nora's hair, possibly as a retraint to keep her from doing something crazy. "So what can team JNPR do for you today?" Nora asked to keep from exploding.

"I need your help to exact terrible vengence upon team RWBY." I stated bluntly.

Team NPR quizzically looked at one another. "I don't think we can help with that." Pyrrha frowned, she enjoyed assisting people but helping someone get revenge wasn't something she was fond of.

I held up my hands, "Let me explain, I was in my room, minding my own buisness, when suddenly a knock came from my door. Naturally, I opened it to find Yang and the rest of her team standing there. She offered me a drink. I mistook it as neighborly kindness. Low and behold, the drink exploded. I need your help to come up with an idea and enact it."

Pyrrha was slightly relieved that nobody was actually going to be harmed. But she was still opposed to it. Ren remained silent while Nora exclaimed, "We can fill their bed sheets with mayonnaise!"

I pointed at Nora, "I like your enthusiasm."

Nora smiled until Ren interjected, "Don't feed her, she's excitable enough already."

Nora turned to look at Ren, shocked at this betrayal. "TREASON!" She cried before tackling Ren to the ground.

While the two wrestled, I looked at Pyrrha, "Are they always like this?"

She smiled, "Pretty much. Though today I think she went over her daily quota for sugar. We might have to tie her to her bed again."

An idea formulated in my head, "Is anyone on team RWBY like this?"

"Ruby probably but I don't se-" Pyrrha stopped dead when she realized the information she had given away.

"Thank you for this information Pyrrha." I smiled evilly.

"I didn't say anything!" She desperately tried to dig herself out of her metaphorical hole.

"Now you're involved~."

Pyrrha hung her head in shame. She was a tool of justice being used for evil.

Ren struggled out of Nora's grasp and back onto the bed.

"Hey Ren." I asked, "Do you know where I could get an energy drink?"

"An energy drink?" He looked puzzled. "I don't believe you can got those on school grounds."

"Sure you can!" Nora popped out from beneath her bed, "Professor Oobleck always has a few of those tiny ones in his desk."

"How do you know that?" Pyrrha questioned.

"There was this one time that I went in-"

"Broke in." Ren cut in.

"-after class because I got this adorable little pen-"

"She stole it."

"I didn't steal it!" She defended, "I won it fair and square!"

"You challenged the guy sitting next to you to a thumb war, you broke his thumb and took the pen. Oobleck confiscated it before you put it in your bag." Ren stated plainly without raising his voice in the slightest.

"Same thing." Nora dismissed, "Anyway, I opened his desk and I found a bunch of these little bottles labeled, '_Nitro: It's not just an energy drink_.'"

"I need to get my hands on one of those." I said thoughtfully.

"Here you go!" Nora tossed me a little bottle of _Nitro_.

Ren and Pyrrha looked accusingly at the girl beneath the bed. I felt the tension rising in the room.

"I should go." I claimed leaving the room.

The moment the lock on the door engaged, from the other side I heard Nora yell, "You'll never take me alive!" Followed by an explosion and Nora's voice getting fainter as she bellowed, "Wheeeeeee!"

"I'd better let them settle this by themselves." I theorized not wanting to get involved. I walked away from team JNPR's room and began to search for the energetic leader of team Ruby.

It took me a while, as I had the mistaken mindset to look where I'd think to find her if I was her. She wasn't in the cafeteria, the reloading room, the garden, or her dorm room. Though I did run into Blake and Yang walking in the gardens. We didn't say a word to each other but I could see that Yang regretted nothing. She wore that same satisfied smile as per usual.

As it turns out, Ruby was in the Library of all places. I only discovered this because I looked in the library window as I was walking by. I saw Ruby slumped next to a stack of textbooks while Wiess scolded her for some reason or another.

I walked around to the front door, entered and hid behind a bookshelf, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. When Wiess threw her hands up in exasperation, and walked away either to use the bathroom, get more books, or to just calm down, I made my move.

I approached the table and Ruby looked up, "Oh hey." She dully greeted, "Sorry about earlier."

I dismissed the apology with a wave of my hand. "Nothing to worry about, it was Yang anyway."

She tapped her fingers together, "It was actually my idea."

"Yang still gave me the drink so I hold her accountable. But enough about me, you look tired."

She slumped her head onto her hands, "Grimm Biology is the bane of my existence." She proclaimed.

I held up a finger and fished the tiny bottle out of my pocket, "Here. This should wake you up."

Ruby was hesitant, "Yang doesn't like it when I drink caffeine, she says I get too hyper."

"Relax, it's caffeine free. It's fueled by fruits and minerals and all that crap." I informed pointing at the caffeine free label.

Ruby looked suspicious but said nothing.

I was running out of time. "Look Ruby, if I was going to poison you or something i'd have to break the seal." I stated pointing at the intact freshness seal around the cap.

That pushed her over the edge, she took the bottle, opened it and downed it in three seconds. I wasn't sure wether or not it worked until her pupil size doubled. "ThanksShaneIfeelsomuchbetter!" She rapidly exclaimed.

"Glad to help." I returned. Then I took the empty bottle and returned to my dorm.

Tomorrow I would see the fruits of my labor.


	23. Chapter 22: Fruits Of Labor

**Chapter 22: Fruits Of Labor**

* * *

_SLAM_

"You... You did this..." A tired and angry voice hissed.

"Bwuh?" I drowsily sat up in bed. Rubbing my eyes open to see Wiess illuminated by light of the moon in my dorm's doorway.

She stood in her nightgown with one hand keeping the door open and the other firmly grasping her silver and dust-filled rapier. Her hair was disheveled and she looked very un-ladylike. "You did this!" She hissed again again.

My senses snapped back to me. First instinct: LIE!

"I have no idea what you're taking about." I bluffed.

"Don't bother trying to lie." She scolded, "Ruby gave you up."

'Well... Shit.' I thought.

Wiess stepped forward, the room grew colder. "So you're just gonna kill me?" I called her bluff.

"No." She calmly responded, "I'm just going to cut and stab you in as many places as possible without killing you. Your arms and legs will never heal properly so you'll collapse with every step. You won't be able to move your arms to even pick up a fork." She stepped forward again.

I flung open my nightstand and withdrew the pistol Wiess had gotten for me just days ago. I wasn't sure how many bullets Wiess's aura could take, but I sure wasn't eager to find out.

She smiled sadistically, it was horrifying. "By the time you fire enough bullets to penetrate my aura, you'll be dead twice."

"Wiess please, we can negotiate!" I attempted to barter.

She shook her head but never broke her stare, "I understand why you did this, but your crimes against education and my sleep are unforgivable. Do you have any idea how hard it is to fall asleep with just regular Ruby around? Of course you don't. Otherwise you would've thought twice about giving her an energy drink." Another step forward.

The room got colder still, I could almost see my breath. Wiess looked like some sort of blood-lusting banshee. My options were running out fast, and she was not in a forgiving mood.

I couldn't beat Wiess in a fight, that had been proven. She wouldn't listen to reason so there was only one alternative. Fleeing.

As Wiess took a fourth step forward, I hurled my pillow at her and jumped out of bed. Wiess, tired as she was expected such a move and neatly sliced the pillow in two. In one fluid movement, I tore the blanket off my bed and used it as a net. Staying in the room would be a death sentence so I took the small opportunity to put some distance between me and the rapier wielding heiress.

"Don't run!" She commanded as I burst out the door. "You'll only die tired!"

I took off at full sprint down the halls at one o'clock in the morning. I was taller than Wiess so in the short run, I could outrun her. In the long run however, Wiess was in better shape and much more conditioned, so over time she would catch up to me.

I ventured outside into the cold, pausing for a moment, I could hear Wiess's soft footsteps behind me. Bolting in the direction of the gardens, I decided that I could find sanctuary there.

Diving behind a bush in the gardens, I crawled until I was behind a variety of multi-colored shrubs. Doing my best to control my breathing, I kept quiet.

A very short time later, Wiess made her appearance. Thankfully, her being an only child in a strict household robbed her of the experience of playing hide and seek. Giving me an advantage. "Hide or run, I will find you." She announced to the garden.

She began to systematically check each and every flower bed, bush and tree for anyone who might dare to hide from the sleep-deprived heiress.

She was getting closer, if I moved, she would strike me down in an instant. Rather than take that risk, I picked up a rock. When Wiess turned her back to inspect another section of the garden, I hurled the stone in the opposite direction.

The rock landed with a dull thud. This noise was enough to get the heiress's attention. She darted in the direction of the noise and continued running believing that I had just made a break for it.

When her footsteps faded, I decided that now was the time to go in a different direction. As I stood to proceed, a hand clasped itself over my mouth and dragged me to the ground. On impact with the ground, I closed my eyes. Re-opening them I was gazing into Blake's catlike yellow eyes.

Blake looked unimpressed, she too had been affected by Ruby's sugar driven madness.

"Hey Blake." I mumbled a greeting under her hand.

"Don't speak." She commanded.

Moments passed in complete silence, only our breathing and the sound of crickets were at all audiable. Blake showed no emotion, but kept me locked in place with her yellow-eyed gaze. After a minute or two, she spoke, "Your actions have cost me sleep. If Yang hadn't been prepared for such an occasion with noise-canceling headphones, Beacon would be a hole in the ground." She explained mellow dramatically.

I blinked twice in understanding.

"I'm not one for theatrics, that's Yang and Ruby's field. So i'm letting you off with a warning. Don't do anything like this again or else hiding won't be an option anymore." A short pause later she added, "Go back to your room, Wiess won't be looking for you." She abruptly stood and walked behind a nearby tree. She didn't walk around it, she just seemed to vanish into thin air.

The ground was cold and I was dumbfounded, be it by luck, kindness or pity, Blake had saved me from Wiess's sadistic wrath. Which was odd, because you wouldn't expect something like that from someone of her stature. It was far more likely that she'd hire someone to come break my legs or something.

I stumbled back to my room, keeping my ears open for Wiess who still might've been searching for me. I trusted that Blake was sincere when she promised that Wiess would stop hunting me. Nonetheless, it never hurt to be cautious which is why I used the spare beds in my room to barracade the door. Just in case.

The following morning was peaceful, too peaceful. Which is why I remained on guard and kept the door blocked until it was time to depart for my first class.

I arrived 5 minutes early, which was fine. The class filled up with hunters in training and just before the first bell, team RWBY marched in. They arrived in order with Ruby taking the lead, and Yang at the rear. Ruby looked ashamed, Wiess was dead tired, Blake was slightly less tired than Wiess and Yang looked chipper as she was the only one to get a good night's sleep on account of her noise-canceling headphones.

Ruby shamefacedly took her seat and guided Wiess to slump down next to her. Wiess was too tired to be angry or repremand anyone, including me. Blake sat down calmly while Yang flopped into her seat and immediately put her feet up.

Around an hour and a half later, the bell rang signalizing the end of class. As I got up to leave, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Yang standing next to me.

"Not bad." She whispered then walked away.

I processed this statement as she headed for the door.

"Wait, what?" I confusedly asked myself as she and her team left the room.

Another class followed history then came lunch. Turns out I had made a lunch-buddy, it was apparent that not many people wanted to be associated with Velvet. Not because she was mean or a fanus, but out of fear of being targeted by Cardin and his goons. Not to mention that she wasn't mean, and being friends with a fanus often provided an easy out should someone ever accuse you of being prejudiced against fanuses.

Velvet was calm and tried her best to make small talk, she would ask about the weather or how classes were going. She usually was the one who asked the questions, and I would provide elaborate answers to try and provoke deeper conversation. Seldom did that ever work, but you never know unless you try right?

Looking down at my slice of ham, then to Velvet's salad, the formulation of a conversation topic had emerged.

"So Velvet..." I began, "Are you a vegetarian?"

She jabbed her fork into her salad and looked up, "What makes you ask that?" She pondered aloud.

I raised my hands in defense, "Nothing! It's just that you've eaten salad two days in a row." I stuffed a fraction of ham into my mouth, "There's no protein there!"

Velvet scrunched her nose at the sight of me devouring the meat. "Yes I am." She flatly answered, clearly displeased with the consumption of meat.

"Well that's your prerogative." I swallowed, "I'd be a vegetarian too if bacon grew on trees." I quoted.

"I don't like bacon." Velvet replied.

I sighed and dramatically stood, "That's a shame, I was really starting to like you Velvet. But i'm afraid you must be killed for this act of heresy." I then made a mock jab at her with my fork.

Velvet reeled back in absolute terror, nearly falling out of her seat.

I sat back down, "Jesus Velvet calm down it was a joke!" I informed with a slight chuckle.

Velvet regained her composure, and her seating, "I'm sorry, i'm just not used to stuff like that being fake."

I felt bad for the rabbit-eared girl, could such treatment come solely from the fact she had animal ears?

The bell rang before I could become Velvet's therapist. Though i'm sure that over time I would become her shoulder to cry on. Which I didn't mind, sometimes you just need to get some things out.

On the way out of the cafeteria, Ruby pulled me aside. She didn't look happy as she normally did, instead the looked pointedly curious. "Why did you give me that energy drink yesterday?"

I knew a loaded question when I heard one, "Why do you ask?"

"Because I did some things last night that I don't remember, and whatever they were, they were a result of me drinking that drink." She explained.

"What did you do?" I asked trying to distance myself from the initial question.

"I don't know." She pouted, "All I know is whatever I did made Wiess loose sleep, and now all day she's been so tired that she's hardly even able so scold me."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"It would be if it wasn't something I did." She poked her fingers together.

"Well, relish her tiredness while you can." I patted her shoulder before walking away. My escape was cut short when she used her semblance to speed ahead of me and block my path.

"You didn't answer my question." Her eyes narrowed accusingly.

"You figured that out did you?" I bit my lip realizing that the free spirited girl did have a dependable serious side, which is probably why she was picked to be the leader of her team.

"Answer the question!" She demanded in her authoritative leadership voice.

I hung my head, "I wanted to get revenge on your team by giving you the drink because I know how you couldn't handle your sugar."

Ruby shook her head with her eyes narrowed. "Shame on you."

I steeled myself for the impending reprimand. But it never came. I looked up at the leader of team RWBY, "That's it?"

She looked a little ashamed of herself, "I was never very good at the whole reprimanding thing, that's Wiess's department."

I smiled, "No wonder Ozpin chose you to be team leader. A good leader shouldn't focus on what went wrong, they should instead focus on how to make sure it never happens again."

Ruby smiled at the complement, "It will never happen again right?"

"You have my word." I reassured the eccentric young girl.

"Good, Because you're already late for class!" She disappeared in a flurry of rose petals, a second later, the bell rang.

"Son of a bitch beat me at my own game." I shook my head and laughed.

Late to class, but didn't miss much. So long as you make it before anyone know you're not there, you're fine. Thankfully, I was able to slip in while Glynda was reading something about engaging multiple enemies, followed by her pointing out the flaws in the text.

I suppose Ruby was trying to get on Wiess's good side by delaying me. I couldn't blame her, the young heiress was notoriously hard to please, and bolstering relations with her was just a good idea.

Ruby looked at me with an apologetic smile, I smiled back, not a smile filled with venom, but a smile of understanding. Wiess was leaning heavily on her partner, obviously trying to conserve energy to stay awake and pay attention to the lecture. Funny how Wiess wouldn't even consider doing leaning on someone for physical support any other time. But maybe fatigue brings out the best in rare cases.

"In this scenario, it would be wisest to retreat before blah blah blah..." The huntress continued to ramble on. When she finished, the dally match began. Todays match was Blake vs. Ren. A battle of silence, a contest of agility, a game of reflexes. Both contestants were forced to load their weapons with rubber bullets for obvious reasons, so Blake and Ren hardly fired their weapons.

Ren and Blake were quiet heroes. Nobody (other than Wiess) wanted to be in class for longer than they had to. Certainly not while being droned at by Miss. Goodwitch. As a result, the match went on for thirty minutes. Every encounter was an incomprehensible blur which ended with both of them taking two steps back. Did I mention that this went on for thirty minutes? Once the thirty minute mark was hit, Miss Goodwitch stepped in and called it a draw. The quiet compatriots left the stage with tiny satisfied smiles. They were both far too humble to triumph over the other and for the most part it was just a stunt to waste time.

The remainder of class was Miss Goodwitch droning on and on about the imperativeness of ending a battle swiftly. "If every engagement lasted this long then blah blah..." Students eyes glazed over while they watched the clock.

Glynda was aware that their attentions were on everything but her. So she stopped talking, there was thirty seconds left in class. She paused for twenty-five seconds before announcing, "Tomorrow's match: Yang Xiao Long vs. Shane Mansfield."

My heart stopped, Wiess snapped up, and the bell rang.

Students funneled out of the room, the most popular topic of conversation was tomorrow's match. Most people didn't even know who I was. Just as many people were putting bets on my demise. Yang was legendary amongst the students, she had beaten more than 60% of them in her spare time.

I found myself in my room a short time later. Thinking about everything from funeral preperations, to looking for some way to get out of the fight. I only realized how deep in thought I was when someone knocked on my door.

I opened the door, and I was greeted by the last person I expected to see: Wiess.

"Uh? Can I help you?" I asked the tired heiress.

"I think it's time we started over." She suggested out of the blue.

"What?"

She tiredly rolled her eyes and staved off a yawn, "I don't like you. But that doesn't mean we have to be enemies. It could be that Ruby has rubbed off on me, but I don't need anymore enemies."

I was befuddled, "Is this because you're tired, or have you been drinking this evening?"

Wiess said nothing but she stare was one of waining patience.

I shook myself, opportunity was in front of me, "You're right Wiess. We should at least try to get along."

She smiled and walked away, "It's good to make peace with the dead before they are."


	24. Chapter 23: Countdown

**Chapter 23: Countdown**

* * *

After Wiess left, I spent an hour alone. Mainly just thinking of possible ways to escape being brutally murdered by the blonde bruiser. Rumor has it that she beat a pack of ursa to death with her bare hands. 'But that couldn't possibly be true! Then again, she has beaten over 60% of the student populous in single combat.'

The constant thought of impending doom was driving me crazy. So I decided to pay Yang a visit and beg for my life. I'd never been in team RWBY's room but I suppose there's a first time for everything.

I knocked on the door, which was answered by Blake who was holding a handful of lien. "Oh hello, I thought you were the pizza delivery guy." She said jamming the money into her back pocket.

"You can get pizza delivered?" I asked tilting my head slightly.

Blake shrugged, "It's had to get everyone to agree on a meal. But with pizza we can always have it tailored to everyone's tastes."

"Why don't you just eat at the cafeteria like usual?"

"You get tired of it after awhile."

I nodded in understanding. Beacon's food was FAR superior to anything served at any other schools. Even so, it's still the same stuff day after day.

"Anyway" I changed the subject, "Do you know where I can find Yang?"

Blake's eyebrows raised, "You're fighting her tomorrow right?"

I nodded.

"You can find her in the gym. Keep in mind, begging will get you nowhere, she's on a thirty-two win steak."

"I was afraid of that." I frowned, "Well, I suppose I can still ask her to leave enough of me to bury." I leaned into the room and pointed at the red-haired leader of team RWBY who was currently jamming out with headphones and studying. "Ruby." I spoke loudly.

She turned to look at me and took off her headphones, "Yea?"

"Bring flowers to my funeral." I ordered and pointed.

I turned and left, making my way to the gym to meet my future adversary.

Blake was a little off, she wasn't in the gym. She was in the weight room, which was connected to the gym. Yang was running on the treadmill with her eyes closed and what looked like some sort of Mp3.

Not wanting to disturb her, I figured it was only a matter of time before she got tired. So I picked up a fifteen pound dumbbell and sat behind her, flipping it out of boredom.

"This isn't a bad wrist exercise..." I mumbled to myself whilst flipping the weight.

Twenty minutes later, Yang finally slowed to a stop. She stepped off the treadmill and stretched. Simultaneously, I dropped the weight and frowned. Yang jumped around to face me with fists raised, "Ffff- How long have you been sitting there?!"

I pursed my lips and looked at my watch, "Like, 22 minutes?"

"How did you get there?"

"You know, I get that a lot. Not as much lately, but to answer your question, I walked." i looked at my feet and swished them back and forth, "I have a habit of stepping softly."

She raised a sweaty palm to her face with a nostalgic chuckle, "It's like meeting Blake again." She took a bit to reminisce about stealthy memories. She sighed, "So I take it you came to talk about tomorrow?"

"Pretty much, yeah." I agreed.

She laid down on the bench press that she had set up when she came in and began to lift. "Sorry to say, but i'm on a hot streak and i've got a reputation to uphold." She grunted.

"Yea, Blake told me that she didn't think you'd want to give up the streak." I admitted shamelessly.

"She's so good like that." Yang smiled and continued to lift.

"Well, if you're so dead-set on keeping your streak alive, then just leave enough of me to bury." I humorlessly pleaded.

"Don't be so dramatic! You've got your aura-"

"Still broken." I informed as I glowed for a moment followed by the familiar sizzle and falter.

"Oh yea. Anyway, you don't need to worry, i've never beaten anyone to death before." She paused, "Except for that one time."

"I'm not so sure, rumor has it you single-handedly destroyed a nightclub?" I questioned.

"ONE TIME!" She objected looking up, "It was one time! And they'll never let me live it down!" She stated with a twinge of humor.

I chuckled at my adversary, it was kind of nice that she could see the bright side in even such a violent memory.

I shrugged, "Well it was nice talking to you I suppose."

"Aaaanytime." She replied continuing to lift.

I needed to find a way to not be killed in the upcoming match. Therefore, it was time to talk to the man in charge to perhaps find an out.

_Taptaptap_

"Come in." Ozpin granted.

Entering the room once more, Ozpin stood gazing out the window with a cup of tea in hand. Not knowing what to do, I thoroughly scanned the room before standing next to the headmaster. "Tell me, do you know what it's like to run the greatest combat school in the world?" Ozpin asked without turning.

"No, but i'm guessing it's a whole helluva' lot of work." I replied with a mini shrug.

The right side of Ozpin's mouth raised slightly, "True." He sipped, then returned to his desk. He sat and took another drink. Meanwhile, I took my seat across from him as I had done twice before. "I suppose I should ask what it is exactly that you're here for."

"Is Miss Goodwitch around?" I asked.

"If you were looking for her, i'm afraid you missed her. She stepped out for some air."

"Actually, I was just wondering if she was _here._" I stated pointing down, "It's you that I want to talk to."

"Hmm... I take it you're concerned about your participating in her class tomorrow." The headmaster inquired.

I rubbed the back of my neck, "You heard about that huh?"

"Of course. Nothing happens that I don't know about." He finished his cup of tea, "It will be interesting to say the least."

"Interesting for everyone else maybe. For me it will be extremely painful."

Ozpin looked amused, "What makes you say that?"

I widened my eyes and pulled my head back, "The fact Yangs' undefeated, and those shotgun gauntlet thingies of hers are no doubt going to be loaded with beanbag rounds. Not to mention she has aura and I don't."

"You _do_ have aura." Ozpin corrected.

"Well, yeah. But it's still broken!" I raised my hands in defeat.

Ozpin smiled, "Well, you're wrong about another thing. Miss Xiao Long has been defeated."

Surprised, I had to know, "But I thought she was on a thirty-two win streak! Who beat her?"

"Technically, the match didn't happen. And my telling you this, breaks my vow of silence. Anyway, the match was private and solemn few know of it."

"That's fine, but who was in the match?" I pressed with growing curiosity.

Ozpin began to pour himself another cup of tea, "That information is classified. Now, in regards to you wanting me to undermine my colleague's decision, it won't happen. i wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. You may go."

Bewildered, I stood and walked towards the door. Halfway there, I turned to Ozpin and asked, "Why do these meetings always end in me being very confused?"

Ozpin raised the cup to his mouth, "It's part of my job."

I left the room and left for the library. 'Maybe there's something about broken aura in the library.' I thought hopefully.

Upon entry, I was greeted by the familiar musty smell of aged literature. With nothing better to do, I began to compile a stack of books on aura. After going through a handful of them, I discovered they were mostly the same. Just a bunch of stuff about souls, semblances, and all that crap. Nothing in these books had anything on what could possibly keep someone's aura from functioning.

At this point I moved onto health books. No pertinent information there either. All the stuff was directed toward physical wounds.

I had been in the library for two hours. In those two hours nothing had been accomplished other than discovering that my ailment was a very strange anomaly indeed. As I began to consider leaving, a familiar brown-eared fanus walked by. "Hey Velvet?"

The book laden rabbit fanus turned to me, "Oh hello, I didn't see you there."

"You're the second person to say that to me today." I informed with a fake and over-exaggerated head-hang, while gesturing for her to sit down.

Velvet almost laughed as she sat, placing the books down on the table "So what are you doing here?"

"I'm trying to learn about aura. Do you know anything about that?"

She nodded readily.

"Well, mine's broken. Do you know anything about _that_? Because these books sure don't." I fretfully exposed.

"Broken how?" The fanus inquired.

I briefly flared my aura to show the blinks, falters and fade.

Velvet looked puzzled, "That's odd."

I nodded, "I know right?"

Velvet closed her eyes and wracked her brain for any information in the subject. While she thought, her ears unintentionally flicked and moved. I smiled and had to stop myself from laughing a few times, it was weirdly entertaining. After a time, Velvet finally spoke, "I'm sorry, I got nothing."

"It's fine." I shrugged and sighed. Velvet frowned and gathered her things. She left, and a few minutes later, I did the same.

The remainder of the day was uneventful. No strange encounters, barring the usual oddness of the teams interactions with themselves. After dinner, I returned to my room, studied bits and pieces of history and grimm biology before forcing myself to sleep and face the upcoming slaughter.

Thursday, wether I was being avoided or just ignored was up for debate. Mainly because throughout the morning, including breakfast and the first two classes, not a word was spoken to me. Though I did hear my name and Yang's being tossed around during the day, along with a few glances in my direction.

Things got interesting during lunch, upon entering the lunchroom, I noticed a large crowd gathered around Nora who was wearing a green blackjack dealer's visor. The remainder of team JNPR sat at a different table. Jaune sat alternating between a look of wonder (directed at Nora), a look of distress and depression (aimed at team CRDL), and looking at Pyrrha with an apologetic face, combined with hope that the spartan would pay him a modem of attention.

Ren meanwhile was clearly experienced in masking his emotions, he focused on his meal while occasionally checking on Nora's current status. Last but not least, Pyrrha sat watching Nora accept handfuls of money and furiously scribbling down information on a piece of paper.

I had a pretty good idea about what was happening, but I decided that consulting JPR would be a good way to confirm my suspicions. "What exactly is she doing?" I polled the team.

Jaune shrugged while Pyrrha said nothing. Ren looked to his teammates, understanding that tensions between the two were high, he became the voice for the team, "She's taking bets revolving around your match later." Ren informed evenly.

I was confused, "I have absolutely no chance of winning. Who would possibly put a bet down on a one sided match?"

Ren shook his head, "The bets aren't about who's going to win, it's about how long the match is going to last."

"That makes much more sense." I admitted tapping my foot against the floor.

Shortly thereafter, the crowd around Nora dissipated and the excited pink haired girl rushed over. "Moneyyyy~, Moneyyyy~, Moneyyyyyyy~" she sang while she danced around behind Ren, who had clearly mastered the art of blocking out her outbursts. After pointing out every little detail about the room, her stack of cash, and the universe, she realized I was sitting across from Jaune. She saw a grand opportunity.

She bolted from behind Ren to next to me. Ren breathed a sigh of relief while the pink-haired girl set to work on my ears instead. "Hey Shane! I've never asked you for anything so you can do me this little favor! Right? Great!"

She continued to ramble on and ask rhetorical questions and answer them herself. After using her voice to fuel a jet and fly around the world, she finally finished for the time being. "-Which is why exactly thirty-eight seconds into the match you should take a dive."

"Well, it's nice to know you think I could last thirty-eight seconds. But I doubt i'd last more than ten."

Nora closed her eyes and loudly, "Hmmm'd." She snapped her fingers, then warped behind Ren, "We'll dress Ren up like you and he'll take your place!" She loudly theorized.

"Nora, I think people would notice." Ren quickly dejected.

Nora then began spouting out a laundry list of different and absurd possible solutions. As she continued to ramble, I finished my meal and felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Come on, we need to get dressed for our match." Yang informed.

I sighed and left the table. Yang and I walked down the halls back to our respective rooms, making idle conversation all the way. Once we reached our destinations, we split up. I got dressed and equipped, and headed out once again. Strangely, Yang had waited outside her team's room for me to walk by. After more small talk, there was a brief time between conversations that I decided to utilize.

"Hey Yang?" I looked at the older girl.

"Hey what?"

"Could you do me a favor?"

"I'm not gonna throw the match." She bluntly restated.

"Not what I was asking. What I was going to ask was: would you mind keeping your fight above the belt?"

Yang chuckled, "Sure."

The rest of the walk was silent. Lunch had gotten out, so we joined the crowd. By that I mean that _I_ joined the crowd while Yang blundered through anyone who wasn't smart enough to step out of the way. Upon entry, we took our seats and listened to the beginning of class lecture. While Miss Goodwitch spoke, many students excitedly fidgeted around. Everyone was excited to see the next match, more importantly: to see if their bets paid off. When Miss Goodwitch finished speaking, she called Yang and I to the stage.

Yang stood alone on one side, cracking her knuckles and loading her gauntlets with beanbag rounds. Miss Goodwitch handed me a pistol magazine marked with purple tape. The purple tape was to symbolize that the magazine was loaded with non-lethal ammunition.

I loaded the pistol and gazed into the crowd, students were talking to one another about the impending match and the bets they had place with Nora Valkyrie. Nora sat next to Ren looking as excited as ever with her dealer's visor on and stopwatch in hand. Over where team RWBY sat, Ruby looked conflicted, Wiess wore a devilish smirk and Blake sat waving a tiny flag with 'RWBY' written on it. I looked back to Yang, she cracked her neck and looked to the teacher.

I looked at Miss Goodwitch, "Can I just surrender now?" She shook her head with a discontented look on her face. "Figured i'd ask." I muttered.

"Begin." Miss Goodwitch stepped back as she spoke.

Yang strode forward with her fists raised, I drew my axe. My strategy was to use the superior reach of my weapon to my advantage. Once she was within range, I swung. She stepped and leaned back. Swiftly counter-attacking, she delivered two rapid punches to my abdomen, then she stepped past me and kicked me in the spine.

I was sent sprawling a few feet in front of me and onto the floor. I got back up with fresh bruises, still clutching my weapon. She planned on giving me no ground, she was already on me by the time I stood up. I Swung my ax, desperately trying to buy some ground. The brawler was having none of it. She promptly deflected the blow and delivered two punches to both of my ribs. Immediately afterward, she kicked me in the center of my chest and a few more feet back onto my back.

My body was telling me to stay down, but I suppose it was pride or stubbornness that made me force myself onto my feet. When I stood, I decided it was time to change combat styles. Retracting my ax to hatchet length, I went on the offensive. Swinging fluently with the hatchet and doing my best to retain the momentum from the previous swing, I unleashed a miasma of attacks. Although, it wasn't much of a miasma of Yang was smart enough to step back and avoid the majority of the swings.

This was all going according to plan, once she stepped back, she carefully planned her counter-strike. When she had believed she had a ripe opportunity, she stepped forward to throw another round of punches. Anticipating this, I flung myself onto my back and ripped my handgun from its holster. I unloaded the pistol in Yang's direction, I scored a few hits until she flipped out of the way to evade the remaining shots.

Scrambling to my feet once again, I looked to my opponent. She didn't have a face of annoyance or anger, she just looked like she was done. So she ran forward, and fired shots into both my legs. My legs went limp, while headed to the floor, Yang welcomed me with two punches to the face and one final kick to the chest. Breaking my already cracked ribs.

Hitting the floor one last time, Miss Goodwitch called the match. "THIRTY-EIGHT!" I heard Nora's distant voice cheer.

Miss Goodwitch began a speech on the importance of aura and fighting a superior foe. I tried to stand but my legs felt partially numb so I only got as far as my knees.

I coughed.

Miss Goodwitch continued to speak.

I coughed a few more times.

Miss Goodwitch kept talking.

Evermore ravenous coughs accompanied by a bit of blood. I few students looked worried and hushed whispers spread throughout the room.

Miss Goodwitch stopped talking and looked in my direction.

More coughing and more blood. I blearily made out Yang headed over to help me up. So I held out my arm to stop her.

One more cough.

_Plonk_.

"What the hell is that?"


	25. Chapter 24: Live and Learn

**Chapter 24: Live and Learn**

_This chapter is sadly short. A bunch of stuff came up so I wasn't able to make it the usual length. I apologize._

_As an added note, I have a question for you ladies and gentlemen. Should I re-write the first chapter? Only a forth of the people who read it go onto chapter two, and of those who go that far, only half continue on to the next chapter. Thank you all._

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I rubbed my eyes to get a better look at whatever I had just coughed up.

Yang walked over and repeated herself again, only a bit quieter, "What the hell is that?"

I blindly fumbled for the strange object that had come out of my throat. It felt smooth but was carved or engraved with some sort of markings. It wasn't metal, it felt wooden without being wood. That was the extent of my analysis before my focus was shattered by another wave of pain.

Grumbling incomprehensibly, my grip tightened around the little object as my forehead met the floor. Yang helped me drunkenly stumble off stage and limp to the infirmary. Once there, the doctors and nurses took x-rays on my ribs.

"You're lucky." The lead doctor proclaimed, sticking the x-rays up against the illuminated glass pane on the wall. "The last person Yang sent here had one of her lungs punctured. When one part of her ribs broke, a piece splintered off and went straight through it."

"Well then thank god a lot of milk!" I joked letting out a brief laugh that was abruptly cut off by a painful coughing fit.

"Try not to laugh." The doctor stated with humorless candidness.

Grunting in agreement, I laid down on one of the infirmary's many beds and accepted the multitude of ice packs being offered by one of the many nurses. Using a bit of medical tape kept in a nearby table, I strapped the packs to my legs, chest and face. The numbing cold was much more preferable to the hot, searing pain. Also skipping the rest of class was gravy.

A tranquil hour later, Miss Goodwitch's class was dismissed. Subsequently, a seemingly random mess of people entered. Including: Wiess, Ruby, Pyrrha and Nora.

"Jeez, Yang certainly did a number on you didn't she?" Ruby observed sympathetically upon seeing my bandages and ice-packs.

"She is quite skilled." Pyrrha noted both impressed and pitying.

"And I made a killing!" Nora loudly exclaimed revealing the wad of lien she ha been storing between her breasts.

Ruby looked at Nora confused, Pyrrha looked embarrassed of her shameless teammate, while Wiess placed her hand on her face and shook her head. She hid her face either for dramatic effect, or perhaps she was a little jealous of the pink haired grenadier.

"So did you guys enjoy the show?" I polled the group.

"It was hard to watch. I'm sorry." Pyrrha apologized.

"Stop apologizing, you did nothing wrong." I scolded the red-haired amazon.

"I'm sorry."

I loudly sighed and looked at Ruby, "I was just hoping she wouldn't kill you." Ruby shamefacedly admitted.

"Fair enough."

"I liked it!" Nora informed the group with her usual tenacity.

"You also rode an Ursa to death and got upset when it stopped moving." Wiess crossed her arms.

"Speaking of which," I interjected, "What did you think Wiess?"

"I think that you need a lot more training if you want to last more than thirty-eight seconds."

"Mmm!" Pyrrha and I agreed in unison. For a short time nothing was said until the lightbulb went off in Ruby's head.

"By the way, what did you cough up earlier?" Ruby inquired with wide-eyed curiosity. Taking her request into consideration, I held up the oddly shaped something. Before anyone could examine it closely, Nora snatched it up and began studying it with a jeweler's eyepiece. Ruby, Wiess, and Pyrrha leaned away from her. None of them would dare touch anything that was recently covered in spit, phlegm, and blood. But Nora, ever the wildcard couldn't help herself.

Pyrrha and Wiess joined Nora in inspection. Whispering to one another they compared notes and pointing things out. Ruby meanwhile was wondering where Nora got the jewelers' eyepiece. After awhile the mumbling convention broke up. Pyrrha generalized the conversation, "We believe this is she claw of an elderly Ursa."

I was hesitant, "Isn't it a little small and dull to be the claw of a full grown ursa?"

"We think that over it's time in your system your aura has been trying to destroy it. It's has been chipped away at and made smaller." Pyrrha explained pointing at the various points of the claw.

I nodded at the logic and well formed theory that Pyrrha and Wiess had comprised. "Try using your aura." Wiess commanded rather casually.

I sighed at the request. Flaring my aura, I prepared for the inevitable failure. To my surprise and delight, it didn't fail. It wasn't strong, but the glow persisted until it faded naturally. "Sw-eet." Pyrrha smiled and Ruby clapped. Wiess seemed pleased. Not at my ability to use it, but rather that her own deductive reasoning skills proving fruitful.

Nora popped out above Pyrrha's head. "See Pyrrha! I told you; you didn't do anything wrong!"

Pyrrha looked up, "Thank you Nora." She rewarded the eccentric girl with a cookie.

Ruby immediately looked at Wiess with puppy-dog eyes, "She gets cookies for being good!" She claimed feeling more than a little jealous.

Wiess sighed and pulled a chocolate chip cookie out of her sleeve. "Yaaay!" Ruby exclaimed snatching up the doughy treat and cramming it into her mouth. "-anks -ess!" She mumbled around bits of cookie.

"You dunce." Wiess shook her head with a tiny sheepish smile creeping over her face.

It was heartwarming to see the teams getting along, though i'm sure that if Jaune was here then the atmosphere would be very different. Pyrrha always seemed to be in a good mood when she wasn't thinking about or around Jaune. Strange, because up until recently Pyrrha admired Jaune's drive and other qualities, though in comparison to each other when it came to fighting abilities they couldn't be more apart.

"Hellooooo~?" Nora hummed waving her hand in front of my face.

"Sorry, my mind was elsewhere." I shook myself from the daydream.

"I remember a daydream I had awhile ago! I was in the forest while Ozpin was training attack seagulls to hunt grimm and there was this creepy old dude named Tom-..." Nora continued spewing out her incomprehensible story, I used the opportunity to ponder the mystery, of how Lie Ren hadn't exploded after knowing her for so long. "-here have money!" Nora then threw a handful of lien at me before running off yelling something about pancake mix.

"Is she on meth or something?" I realized asking the question was foolish, as the moment she had both of us distracted, everyone in the room (including the doctors and nurses) evacuated.

Shrugging, I departed from the infirmary and returned to my room. The remainder of the day was spent nursing my wounds and studying.

Over the next week or so, not much happened. Life ensued, and I discovered that aura really made every day easier. For example, my broken ribs had almost entirely healed by next tuesday.

Thursday was when things became interesting once again. Much to my delight and surprise, Miss Goodwitch announced that we were going on a sort field trip to the forest of Forever Fall. Everyone either returned to their rooms or the locker room to gather their equipment for the journey, just in case. Before our departure, everyone was handed out jars and unusually sharp spigots.

The journey itself was little more than a hike through the woods. I walked alone while teams stuck together. Ordinarily, i'd be more intrusive and wriggle my way into a group's conversation. As of late however, I felt more and more distant from the other teams. I somewhat expected this to happen seeing as I was the only one without a team. Also noteworthy is that both teams RWBY and JNPR weren't present. Apparently they had gone on this trip on Wednesday. When they returned, Jaune looked proud and had a fading black eye that wasn't there when he departed. Pyrrha hadn't said anything to me, but she had no reservations about walking back to beacon next to Jaune with a great-big smile across her face.

When we arrived in Forever Fall, it certainly lived up to it's name. The ground was littered with red leaves. Red seemed to be the overall theme of the forest, as there were no leaves of any other color. Miss Goodwitch gave out some rehearsed announcement about the beauty of the forest, sticking together, grimm and rendezvousing at four.

The teams split up and headed their own ways, leaving me all alone. Well, not all alone, Miss Goodwitch always kept me within sight. It was only logical I suppose, seeing as I was the only one without comrades to support me in case of attack. In time, I found a healthy looking tree almost dripping with sap. "So how are we gonna go about this?..." i scratched my head and felt the face of the tree. It was made of wood.

I took the spigot out of my pocket and pressed it against the wood. It couldn't be that simple and it wasn't, otherwise we wouldn't be here for two hours. Looking over my shoulder, I could see Miss Goodwitch watching me like a hawk. She didn't look impressed, then again, she always retained the same emotionless expression. With no alternatives coming to mind, I decided to take more of a brutish approach.

Drawing my ax, I flipped the hand-guard around so that the pointed end faced away from me. Taking a wide stance, I slammed a heavy swing utilizing all my weight into the tree. Three-fourths of the axe's spike sealed itself into the wood. "Great!" I tugged on the axe, "Now how do I get it out?!" I dramatically cried out. The dramatic outcry wasn't due to my own annoyance, but more to see if I could amuse Miss Goodwitch. That day, I found out that she might have a sense of humor. For just a millisecond, Miss Goodwitch may have allowed her mouth to twitch into a hundredth of a smile.

Trying to elevate the ax from the tree, I began to tug. Not much luck. I took a myriad of different approaches while trying to free my weapon. I tried tacking the handle, kicking it, trying to stand while having the tree act as the ground, wriggling, and even trying to carve it out using my trusty pocket knife.

In the end, the only thing I accomplished was hurting myself via failed tackle. So, I used my stuck ax as a chair. I would've been concerned about hurting my weapon if it wasn't made out of solid... Whatever metal it was made of.

As I sat there stumped, I wondered how everyone else was getting along. Miss Goodwitch was watching me still. I have a sneaking suspicion that when I looked away, she may have done some sort of semblance related nonsense. Because all of a sudden the ax broke free and I was face down on the ground. "Victory!" I cheered raising my hands above my head while still partially submerged in red leaves.

I stood up and inspected the hole left by my ax, it was oozing reddish sap onto the ground. So, I took the spigot and stuck it into the hole. Low and behold, out came free flowing soupy sap. "What kind of tree has this much sap and is this watery?" I pondered to myself quietly, "This kind I guess." I shrugged off the question, satisfied with my mediocre answer.

After I finished collecting sap, I returned to the rendezvous point and under the shelter of a nice shady tree, took a nap while waiting for clock to strike four. A day in the woods with no incident? I'll take it.


	26. Chapter 25: Some Balance

**Chapter 25: Some Balance**

**10,000 Views?! Thats Four zeros more than I thought i'd ever get! All of you deserve pancakes.**

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With a jar of sweet red sap in my left hand, and my axe in my back, I returned to Beacon along with everyone else. No drama or theatrics, just walking and talking. When we arrived back at Beacon, all teams handed in their jars of sap. As rumor had it, apparently team JNPR had collected a few extra jars. They never handed them in.

With a nap under my belt and nothing better to do, I walked around the premises of Beacon and just looked at stuff. Literally stopping to smell the roses on a few occasions. While strolling along, I saw Jaune, strolling just as jauntily and heading in the opposite direction. Seeing each other walking, our walks quickly became a contest to out jaunt each other. When we came within twenty feet of one another, I loudly pronounced, "THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!" Then drew my axe and charged Jaune.

Rather than freak out, Jaune quickly decided to play along and raise his shield. We scuffled for a few seconds before we laughed and sat down on the grass. Well, I sat down, Jaundice just smiled and kept standing. "So what's got you in such a good mood?" I casually asked the knight-hunter in training.

Jaune looked to the sky and smiled a little wider, "Pyrrha isn't mad at me anymore and Cardin has finally decided to leave me alone! So things are looking pretty good for me." He looked down at me, "How's things for you?"

"My aura's been working alright and I haven't been killed yet. So pretty damn good all around."

Jaune and I continued to chat about this and that. "So where are you headed anyway?" I asked after a few volleys of conversation.

"Pyrrha and I have decided to train after classes on the roof of the dorms." Jaune admitted with absolutely no shame or macho guilt that had been plaguing him for so long.

"Jeez Jaune, before long you're going to leave me behind! I wish I had a training buddy." I admitted melodramatically.

"You could always train with Yang!"

I chuckled, "Yeah, that sounds like a great idea."

After sighing contently, we parted ways and I returned to my dorm.

It was 6pm, and I sat gazing out the large window that dominated a portion of my room. Over time, the bustling commune that was Beacon during the day began to wane as weary students melded into buildings before nightfall. I liked my room, the window was positioned perfectly so that you could prop up a chair, and watch the sunset if you so desired. With no real means of entertainment, this was the activity I spent my evenings partaking in.

Then, as everything seemed to settle down, a glimmer in the distance caught my eye. I squinted to look at the airborne speck, but to no avail. So, with nothing better to do, and curiousity gnawing at me, I zipped open the pack that I had kept with me upon my arrival on Remnant. Inside, I found the assorted survival gear that i'd been forced to bring to the hunter's saftey course that fateful day over three weeks ago. Most importantly: One pair of binoculars.

Fueled by curiousity and natural-born paranoia, I looked through the goggles and at the object. It was a gray shuttle that hardly looked any different from the shuttles used at Beacon for transporting students to and from Vale. But there was something different about this shuttle. Holding my breath and exhaling halfway, I forced my hands to steady and allow focus. This shuttle was embroiled with the same snowflake-like crest that Wiess had on a lot of her belongings.

"Well, if she doesn't know, I guess I should probably tell her." I said to myself standing up out of the chair.

With a synthetic sense of duty, I slipped on my shoes and exited into the hall. Down the hall I went, until I came to team RWBY's dorm room.

Bum-bum-bump

After a few seconds, the door was flung open by one Yang Xiao-Long. "Hello!" Yang greeted cheerfully.

"Why hello!" I mimicked her level of cheer.

"I haven't seen you sense I sent you to the infirmary!" Yang noted aloud, "What's up?"

I shrugged, "Not much but I need to talk to Wiess."

At the mention of her name, Wiess, who had been reading quietly on her bed looked up. "Wiess-pick, You've got a visitor." Yang jabbed smiling at her own cleverness that only she could seem to appreciate.

The door widened to allow a better view of the room. Yang and Wiess appeared to be the only occupants. "Where's Blake and Ruby?" I asked to Yang and Wiess.

"If you're looking for Blake or Ruby, why're you asking to talk to me?" Wiess questioned a tad miffed, thinking that perhaps her time was going to be wasted.

"Relax." I evenly said, pushing an invisible wall, "I am here to see you, I'm just curious is all."

Yang picked through a nearby dresser, obviously looking for something or another. "They're out climbing trees. Because for some reason they were talking about trees which led to Ruby challanging Blake to see who could climb a tree faster." Yang commented busily.

"I see." A few seconds passed in silence.

Wiess looked at me, "Well? What is it?"

"Anyway!" I said turning toward the heiress, "Once upon a time, about two minutes ago. I was looking out the window and I saw a gray dot. So I picked up my binoculars and looked at it. Turns out, the gray dot was actually a shuttle, and that shuttle has the same emblem thats on a bunch of your stuff." I explained pointing in random directions throughout the room.

Wiess nodded and looked at the clock. "They're early." Wiess stated before standing up and putting on her white overcoat which also possessed the same white snowflake.

"Who's here?" Yang asked somewhat concerned, looking up.

"It's a dust shipment." Wiess explained putting on her boots.

Yang seemed satisfied with the answer and continued rummaging, while Wiess briskly walked out of the room. I began to follow her, as a result, she stopped walking. "Where do you think you're going?" She asked with a degree of hostility.

"I'm bored, I've got nothing better to do, and the more time you spend arguing with me, is more time that it takes for the shuttle to show up." I listed.

Wiess didn't look pleased, and the hallway grew colder. "Fine." She caved, "Don't say a word." She ordered. In respose, I gave a mock salute.

We walked to the landing pad and arrived just as the shuttle did. Ozpin was there as well, he nodded to Wiess and sipped his ever handy cup of coffee. Off the shuttle came a man with wrap-around shades, a black trenchcoat and two peice suit, with a neat, even buzzcut. "Miss Schnee." He nodded at Wiess, "Your father sends his best."

"Mr. Mendle." She returned holding out her hand. Mr. Mendle then handed Wiess a clipboard and pen. She signed the paper on the clipboard and gave it back. He gestured behind him, the shuttle doors then opened and out came a line of workers all pushing crates on dollies. After the workers began to spill out, he withdrew a briefcase from beneath his coat, handed it to Wiess and abruptly left to board the shuttle.

I stepped behind Wiess and leaned over her shoulder, "What's in the booox?" I asked enthusiastically. She used her free hand to push my head back before turning around. Deciding to humor me, she opened the case and revealed multi-colored crystals.

"Dust Crystals." She answered. "The finest in the world mined by Schnee Incorporated."

"I thought dust would be... dustier." I stated extending my hand to touch a crystal.

Ever the buzzkill, Wiess slammed the case shut. "The dust you're thinking of is far less valuble and are in those crates." She stated looking over at the wooden boxes being mobilized. "For more information..." She began before reaching in her sleeve and pulling out a pamphlet entitled, 'Dust For Dummies', "read this."

I took the pamphlet and folded it into my pocket. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." Wiess said as she followed the men delivering the shipment of dust.

With the excitement gone, replaced by boring business. I returned to my room, threw away the dust pamphlet and opened a can of cola.

"Come on Shane! You can do better!" Ruby shouted at me from the bleachers.

"I doubt it!" I yelled back.

Teams RWBY and JNPR had managed to call dibs on one of the more popular recreation fields on Friday. How? Well, when the bruisers of both teams get to a spot first and declare it their territory, aguing with them often ends in broken limbs.

_"How exactly do you intend to call dibs on an entire field?" I asked Yang and Nora doubtfully._

_"Simple. We show up, we say 'Dibs.'" Yang stated bluntly._

_"And when they argue?" I asked still doubtful._

_"Then we break their legs!" Nora exclaimed mischievously._

_No arguing with that logic. "I'll take it." _

That was the result of a meeting orchestrated by Pyrrha, Jaune and Ruby the previous night. In agreement was everybody, including Wiess and Blake, who would normally be in disagreement. However, it would seem that Ruby and Yang have rubbed off on them.

While Jaune and I fought following Pyrrha and Yang's skirmish, the others decided to pre-occupy themselves with games. Ruby, Nora, Yang and Pyrrha played Go-Fish while Wiess and Ren played chess. Blake sat in the far corner and read one of her novels. While playing thier games they would occasionally look up to watch the match between the two of us. Sometimes shouting encouragement or tips at whoever they preferred or had bet on. Nora flip-flopped between who she was in support of. Initially, Jaune felt betrayed, but realized after three swaps that it was to be expected.

The battle itself dragged on. In just the short time that Pyrrha had been working with him, Jaune had made great strides in improving his performance in combat. While fighting, I could at times hear him whispering to himself. Continually reciting Pyrrha's tips and advice.

A series of swings, blocks, counter-swings, evasions, and parries for seven and a half minutes was the only way to describe the match. It came to a close when I got tired and decided to call it quits. "Alright Jaune." I breathed, "You win, I concede." I tiredly declared dropping my axe and falling to the ground.

Jaune looked nothing short of proud and grateful. After I collapsed, he looked to the bleachers with an utterly satisfied grin across his face. Pyrrha smiled and gave a thumbs-up. Jaune laid down on the field, using his shield as a pillow, gazed up at the clouds.

Turning my eyes to the congregation of the two teams, I saw Blake stand up and walk to Yang. Snapping her fingers, Yang grumbled and pulled five Lien out of her shirt. "Dammit Shane! I expected better from you!" Yang yelled in my direction.

"He knows how to move his aura around and i'm not allowed to use my gun! What did you think would happen?" I loudly groaned in defense.

Yang grumbled to herself and threw her cards down. Pyrrha had won the card game while we argued. I dragged myself to the front row bleachers while Jaune also left the field, wrapping Pyrrha in a hug before sitting down.

Ren looked across the chessboard at Wiess, "Ladies first." He said motioning towards the vacant makeshift arena. Wiess nodded graciously and proceeded to the field. It's worth noting that Ren gentlemanly helped Wiess to her feet. When he did, if you looked at Nora, her eye twitch slightly and her smile shrink a bit.

Ren and Wiess's match was far more exciting but only lasted six minutes. Ren was allowed to fire his guns, though it never seemed to do him much good. Whenever he raised his guns, Wiess would fabricate these weird looking rune thingies out of thin air. The runes came in various different colors depending on the sintuation. When she used them to block, they came in one color. When she used them to move quickly, they came in another.

Wiess was a 'Play to Win' kind of person, while Ren was a more humble and didn't seem to care much for winning. They battled, Wiess took the aggressive approach and for the most part stayed on the offensive. Lie Ren remained on the defensive, using his agility and dexterity to his advantage. Inevitably, the match ended when Wiess used a keen combination of ice to slow his mobility then utilized expertly positioned thrusts to end the match. But i'm not convinced that Ren didn't just allow himself to be trapped.

Either way, the match ended. Though she tried to conceal her pride with humility, it still shined through her tiny smile. She and Ren sat down to continue their chess game. Nora moved over to their chess game area, watchfully observing the game. Moreover, keeping an eye on the two.

I moved over to Ruby whom had been recently abandoned. As Yang had moved over to the still reading Blake to engage in unwanted conversation. Meanwhile, Jaune was sitting with Pyrrha and talking about clouds. "So Ruby?" I began somewhat hesitantly, "How exactly do you channel aura into weapons?"

Ruby looked surprised until she remembered who she was talking to, "It's _really _easy. All you gotta do is while you activate your aura, focus on your weapon." As she stood she said, "like this!"

I'd only ever heard people talk (mostly Ruby) about Crescent Rose. Nothing could prepare me for seeing the scythe-rifle in person. Not only was it bigger than her, but it just looked downright _scary_. Ruby tossed a pencil into the air and sliced it in half with her beloved. When the blade sliced through, a red streak appeared for a split-second marking where the scythe went through. "Just like that." Ruby smiled.

"Physics be damned." I muttered still befuddled as to how she could swing the massive weapon.

"Now you try."

Drawing my axe in hatchet form, I picked up half of the sliced pencil and placed it on the bleacher. I flared my aura and tapped the axe against the half pencil. No colorful streak, but the pencil still sliced in two. "Try again." Ruby requested encouragingly, "Remember, you do it while your aura activates. Its instant so the timing has to be perfect."

Three attempts later, I got it right. And was rewarded with an eighth of a pencil which had been chopped with a dark blue streak. "I did it!"

Ruby gave a tiny applause, "Like riding a bike, you never forget! Though I never rode bikes much as a kid."

"Why not?" I asked. She then showed me the stupidity of my question by disappearing and re-appearing on my other side. "Oh yeah."

After two more matches, we decided that we'd had enough training for one day. We began to migrate off the field and back into the academy. As we were walking I heard a voice behind me, "Hey Shane!" I turned to see Yang with her dumb pun grin on. "Rematch!" She raised her right hand like she was about to throw a punch.

I knew she wouldn't but I played along and raised my left hand to defend against the punch. While wearing my dumbest fake terror look. The punch never came. I felt the blood rush to my hand, my hand radiated blue.

Yang then collapsed into a brightly-glowing, snoring hair pile.


	27. Chapter 28: What has Been Done

**Chapter 26: What Has Been Done**

**Note: I just want to thank you all again for reading, following, reviewing and favoriting. Whenever I see that a new review has been posted, I have a mini-heart attack. Always assuming that it's blatant negativity. Thankfully, that hasn't happened, it almost always positive. Anyway, i'm rambling, thank you all for sticking with me.**

**PS: LintyDaMan, Thanks for all the reviews, it means more to me than you know.**

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Yang snored like a drunken lumberjack. Those who were walking in front of us turned around to see the sleeping blonde and decided to join in on being confused.

"I didn't do it!"

"How did you do that?"

"It wasn't me!"

"Yaaaang, wake uuuup!" Ruby pleaded to her incapacitated sister. Yang simply grumbled incomprehensibly in response before continuing to snore.

JNPR and RWBY converged on Yang who lay face down on the grass. Blake decided to be a good samaritan and roll Yang onto her back. When she did, Yang's left arm flopped around Blake's shoulders. In unconscious instinct, Yang brought Blake into an iron-clad cuddle against her chest. "Mmm... Mine..." The bruiser sleep-mumbled. Blake's face turned beet-red and she tried to stand up. "Noooo..." Yang groaned, squishing the helpless girl against her once again.

Wiess knelt next to Yang and shook her vigorously, "Yang you oaf, wake up!" She demanded at the sleeping girl. In retaliation, Yang used her free arm to lash out and pull the heiress into a situation very similar to Blake's. Wiess let out a short, shocked 'EEEP' as she found herself closer to both Yang and Blake than she felt comfortable. Wiess saw what happened to Blake when she tried to struggle and deemed it best not to follow in her footsteps.

Nora thought this was adorable, therefore began to snap pictures. Ren and Pyrrha stood trying to think of a remedy to this situation, while Jaune supervised and Ruby re-doubled her attempts to rouse her sister. With all eyes off me, I nonchalantly began to walk backwards before turning around and disappearing behind a corner.

Unfortunately, as I turned the corner, a ray of light reflected off of one of the many buttons on my hat. Nobody noticed this save for one Wiess Schnee. "Ruby." Wiess said turning her eyes to her leader, "Fetch." She commanded raising a finger toward the corner I had fled behind.

Ruby nodded and gave chase after me.

I knew I wasn't in the clear, but i'd hoped that perhaps I could make it to my room and lock the door. No such luck. For once again, the outrageous speed of Ruby Rose had thwarted my plans of escape. Just before reaching the double doors that divided the inside from the outside, she appeared in front of me, forcing me to stop dead to avoid bowling her over.

"Nope." She stated, "Do not pass GO, do not collect Two-hundred lien."

"What if I have a get out of jail free card?"

"NOPE!" She placed one hand behind her back, touching the red metal monstrosity known as Crescent Rose.

Rather than be diced into tiny pieces, I surrendered and allowed her to march me back to the group. Once there, everyone (except for Yang) took notice of my shamefaced return. Wiess looked extremely uncomfortable. She was sweating profusely, as Yang wasn't controlling her naturally warm aura in the slightest. Blake's condition may have been far worse, however there was no way of knowing, as the blonde was smothering her.

"Fix this." Wiess growled, quickly depleting her patience.

"Fix it? I don't even know how I did it!" I whined feeling more than a little responsible for this blunder.

"Chumf -umby's -owwl." Blake mumbled.

"What did she say?" Jaune asked to anyone that had understood her.

"I believe she said to 'Check Ruby's scroll.'" Ren deciphered knowingly. To this Blake gave the best nod she could.

Ruby complied and opened her scroll. Sifting through the menus, she eventually came to a page dedicated to her team member's current statuses. Pyrrha looked over Ruby's shoulder and at the scroll. "Strange, when we finished fighting, she had used up half her aura. Yet now her aura has completely returned."

"Is that weird?" I asked, "and these things know how much aura you have?"

"Yes, all you have to do is filter your aura into your scroll and it will come on-screen. Once you're on a team, it will also show the aura of your comrades." Pyrrha informed, always happy to help.

"Learn something new every day."

"Though her aura regenerating so quickly is abnormal. It could be that whatever Shane did was completely unrelated." Ren theorized calmly.

A small wave of relief washed over me for a moment. 'Maybe Ren's right, maybe I didn't have anything to do with this.' The wave of relief was immediately evaporated.

"Or, it's entirely your fault and Yang is gonna to be in a coma for the rest of her life!" Nora added in with her chipper tone.

"Not helping Nora." Ren noted without changing tone. Nora didn't acknowledge Ren's input, she seemed to be infatuated with a nearby tree-branch.

Wiess did not look happy, her aura was draining as she tried to combat Yang's warm aura with her own of the opposite nature. "If i'm going to be stuck here for a minute longer, I will kill everyone in this school!" Wiess fumed.

"How? You're stuck here." Jaune questioned Wiess's logic, only to be quieted by her death-glare.

Pyrrha took the roll of peace-keeper, and bringing everyone back to the problem at hand, "If this isn't his fault, then what could have caused Yang's aura to spike so erratically?"

"She eat two power bars and half a gallon of orange juice after the match." Ruby thoughtfully implied.

"That wouldn't cause such a rapid increase." Ren dejected without batting an eye.

"Unless she had the most powerful orange juice in the history of mankind..." I dramatically hypothesized, hoping to lighten the mood with a bit of humor.

"Nope! I have that right here!" Nora appeared out of nowhere with a bottle of orange juice. "And it goes so great with Ren's pancakes!"

"You can cook?" I looked at the pink-eyed young man.

"Yep!" Nora answered for him, "He's great! He has his own chef's hat and everything!" Nora placed the large white headpiece on Ren's head.

"To be fair, You did buy me the hat."

"And it looks so good on you!" Nora squealed, hugging her friend. This earned a tiny smile from the stone-faced Lie Ren.

"AH-HEM!" Wiess interrupted, followed by a louder snore by Yang. "If you two are quite finished, GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

Yang continued to glow, still snoring blissfully unaware of the discomfort she was subjugating her teammates to. "Wiess, how long can you keep your aura up?" Ruby asked considerately.

"Not long." Wiess frowned, he aura was the only thing keeping the insufferable heat at bay. Blake was less fortunate, but Pyrrha did her part by using her shield to fan the onyx-haired closet fanus.

"Any ideas?" Jaune polled the group.

"Perhaps if we deplete her aura we may rouse her." Pyrrha said, still kindly fanning Blake.

"Well, her aura hasn't gone down any yet." Ruby informed still looking at her scroll.

"How has it not?! With all this heat she's pumping out, it's a wonder she hasn't burnt a hole in the ground!" Wiess whined as she struggled to combat the heat.

"How would we go about draining her aura anyway?" I pondered aloud.

The mix of warriors simultaneously delved into thought. Not surprisingly, Nora came up with the first idea. As soon as she opened her mouth, Ren cut her off. "We can't harm her." Nora's shoulders slumped as her basic idea was obliterated.

"Why don't we just overpower her warm aura with really cold aura?" I blurted out without truly thinking the idea through.

Everyone looked at me, my face grew hot as I thought that perhaps I had said something foolish. "That WOULD work, if Wiess had enough aura left to generate that amount of cold."

"Wmf own't weew ew wwut moo ed ew -mmg mu mmmice" Blake mumbled between Yang's flesh.

"Translation?" Ruby looked to Ren.

"She said, 'Why don't you do what you did to Yang to Wiess?'" Ren obediently translated.

"Are you some sort of mumble wizard?" I asked the green mumble wizard in awe.

"A year ago, Nora got her head stuck in a jar of peanut butter for three days."

"I did get all the peanut better though!" Nora cheerily exclaimed.

Nodding in understanding, I looked over at the pile of three. Who had a new member for the time being. Wiess whispered in a deadpanned expression into Ruby's ear. The more she spoke, the more horrified Ruby looked. Wiess patted Ruby's shoulder and gave her a malignant smile. "Y-you w-would-dn't" She gaped. Wiess didn't answer but her smile remained.

Ruby stood and drew her weapon, chambering a live round and pointing it at me. "What the hell man?!" I threw my hands in the air.

"I'm sorry, but the things she said..." Ruby shuttered before beginning anew, "Either Yang has developed super-human aura regeneration, which would be really cool. Or you gave her a bunch of yours. Wiess thinks it's the second one."

"So what's with the gun?!"

"I'M ON THE EDGE MAN!"

"But I don't even know how I did it! And for all we know, i'd just wind up knocking her out too!"

Pyrrha stepped between Ruby and I, placing her hand on top of the half-extended scy-fle. "Let's just calm down, and talk this out."

The debate began, in just thirty seconds, calm theorizing and stating of facts was devolved into a shouting match of varied opinions backed up with a few observations.

"AH FUCK IT!" I yelled over everyone, while pointing my open palm at Wiess. Once again, I felt the blood rush to my hand, and saw the brief blue glow. This time, a blue haze could be seen between Wiess and I for a moment. Ruby checked her scroll, to see Wiess's red aura bar jump up to almost full and green.

Wiess didn't waste a second. The temperature around Yang dropped considerably. Yang groaned between snores and the temperature rose again. This struggle continued until Yang relinquished Wiess, who immediately leapt away from the brute, summersaulting to a safe distance. Upon her release, she lazily flopped her unused arm around Blake. Ruby bounced slightly and giddily tapped the screen of her scroll, "I saw it move!" She quietly announced tapping on Yang's aura meter.

Seconds later, Yang's lilac eyes opened as she looked down to see a Black bow pressed against her, "Awww, Blakey wanted to cuddle with me!" She smiled at the fanus. Upon hearing Yang's voice, Blake clawed out of Yang's grasp. Her hair was matted down by sweat, and her face glistened like she'd just washed her face. After breaking free, she crawled over to Wiess, doing her best to soak up any lingering cold off the heiress. The heiress took pity on Blake, flaring her aura again to give Blake the relief she sought. Blake sighed her thanks, and squeezed the foot of the short girl.

"Well, I guess cuddle-time is over. I feel great! If anyone needs me i'll be in the gym!" Yang proclaimed before leaping to her feet and dashing off in the direction of the gym. To this, Wiess was speechless, Yang had absolutely no idea what had just happened and was oblivious to the fact she had quite nearly given one of her teammates heat-stroke.

Wiess would've gone after her, but Ruby stopped her, "Let her go Wiess, someone needs you now." Ruby informed gesturing at the black-clad ninja who had collapsed near her feet. Wiess would've argued, but Ruby spoke authoritatively and with truthful kindness. It was an order that couldn't be disputed.

Blake was sound asleep and no-doubt dehydrated from all the sweating she had done recently. Wiess tried to wake the girl, but to no avail, she was just too darn tired. Wiess had promised to be the best teammate ever, she made good on that promise. "This is all your fault." Wiess scolded me.

"I know." I sighed tiredly. I had used up a good amount of aura, as a result, I didn't feel one-hundred percent.

"As punishment, you and Jaune will carry Blake back to our dorm room."

"Why me?" Jaune objected innocently, upon hearing his name.

Wiess shot Jaundice a no-nonsense glare, to which Jaune ceased all objections and grabbed Blake's legs. Learning from my classmate's mistakes, I gripped her arms and toted her back to the RWBY dorm. Upon our arrival, we flopped her onto her bed before nodding with satisfaction and heading our separate ways. Jaune to his room, and me to mine.

The following saturday, a familiar message was sent out to all students. It had been three weeks sense the last trip to Vale, so, the cycle continued. "**All Students: Shuttles leave at ten AM, the final shuttle back departs from Vale at six PM**." I read the message at around eight-thirty upon waking up. Giving me plenty of time to shower, dress, eat and poke squishy jello. Even after all that, I found myself at the landing pads twenty minutes early. Taking a seat on a nearby bench, I just people watched. Things were normal, at least what passes for normalcy around here.

After about fifteen minutes, I got bored and started to play around with my semblance. Rather than making people randomly pass out, I just created the dark blue misty haze betwixt my hands. This style of aura manipulation was far less tiresome than the way I had been doing the previous day. In fact, it was pretty soothing.

So calm and relaxing that I zoned out for a couple minutes. The realization of my glossing over came when I was poked in the face by a large stick wielded by Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose. When my head jerked up in response to being poked, she turned to her teammates who stood behind her, "Good news! He's not dead." Wiess didn't respond, she simply firmly slammed her hand into her face. Blake said nothing, she just stayed in a close by tree and continued to read. "Come on Blakey! You can't still be mad at me! Can you?" Yang whined at the tree-bound girl. She didn't respond.

Wiess did however, "You nearly killed her!" She scolded, crossing her arms.

"Are you still harping on about that? Jeez I can still hear you from last night." She claimed, sticking her pinky in her ear, before withdrawing it and flicking off a bit of stray earwax. To this, the proper and astute heiress wrinkled her nose. "And furthermore!" Yang continued defiantly, "It was his fault anyway!" She pointed in my direction.

"Hey, don't look at me. I paid my dues, helping carry Blake back to you guise's room and whatnot." I defended innocently, while being a little offended by Yang's violent pointing.

"You carried me back to my room?" Blake suspiciously chimed in.

"Wiess made me and Jaune do it."

Blake eyed the Heiress and Brawler, "Ruby, you're my favorite." Blake stated plainly, returning to reading her book.

"Yay!" Ruby cheered throwing her hands up.

"HEY!" Yang and Wiess complained to the pre-occupied ninja, while Ruby sprang into the tree to hug her new best-friend.

I chuckled as I watched the scene play out. Sadly, before more humor could be produced, the first shuttle arrived. It's arrival was heralded by the voice of a distant valkyrie screeching, "HOORAY! THE SHUTTLE IS HERE!" With this stoic announcement, Ruby and Blake descended from the tree and walked to the shuttle doors with the rest of us. After having Yang bulldoze through the crowd with us in her wake, we acquired the window seats.

Once we settled in and took off, I asked a question that should probably be answered. "So why did Yang pass out anyway?"

Wiess was about to answer, but Ruby cut her off, "A rapid overflow of aura causes the subject's body to shut down to manage and burn off the excess aura to return it to normal levels." We looked at Ruby, who wore a broad satisfied smile.

"How did you know that?"

"While you guys carried Blake back to our room, I went to the library." Wiess looked like she was about to faint, upon hearing that Ruby had gone to the library on her own. "I wanted to find out if there were any side effects that might've been effecting Yang."

"Baby sister cares!" Yang beamed, wrapping Ruby in one of her infamous bear hugs.

"Pleeeaaase stoooooop..." Ruby whimpered as she air was smooshed from her lungs.

"Yang honestly-"

"Let her go Yang-"

The squabbles of team RWBY fell into the background when I looked out the window. 'There's a lot of trees out there. So much like home...'


	28. Chapter 27: Back Again

**Chapter 27: Back Again**

**Ladies and Gentlemen, Chapter twenty-seven is complete. Huzzah! However, there may be a delay between now and the next update as I have plans for a new project that I would like to enact. It will be glorious... Probably... Maybe... Hopefully... It's also RWBY based.**

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The shuttle touched down, the passengers disembarked and the pilot stepped out to have a smoke. Upon leaving the station with team RWBY, team JNPR joined our little herd to form a medium sized herd. After walking down the streets of Vale for a good amount of time, with Ruby, Nora, Yang and sometimes Jaune darting out of the pack to examine something they saw in a shop window, the clouds overhead dissipated to reveal the sun.

"Ugh, could someone please turn down the sun?" Wiess complained, placing her hand on her forehead to obstruct the light.

This could not stand, "Don't hate on the sun! Without it we would have nothing. It shines light upon us even when we can't see it. So don't hate the sun, Praise The Sun!" I rebuked, assuming the stance.

Yang snickered, "What are you doing?"

"Praising the sun!"

"Why?"

"Because sometimes you just gotta be grossly incandescent."

"What does that even mean?"

"You of all people should know Yang. I mean, you are grossly incandescent." I informed to the somewhat confused looking Blonde.

Yang shrugged, "Well if i'm it, it must be awesome!" Yang boldly reasoned before also assuming the stance. Ruby giggled at her sister's newfound posture, while considering following suit.

Nora watched us praise like a hawk, "I wanna do that to!" She declared bombastically. The valkyrie snatched up the hand of Lie Ren and began to stretch, as she reached full extension, she looked at her partner expectantly. Obediently, but not enthusiastically, Ren masterfully matched Nora's stance.

Pyrrha and Jaundice shrugged and smiled, they too extended their hands into the air. Ruby continued to smile and laugh, but as to not be left out, she assumed the position. Leaving only Wiess and Blake as the only ones not praising it up. That is until Yang looked at the fanus girl, "Come on Blakey!"

"Yea Blake! Do it!" Ruby supported Yang's endeavor.

"Peeer presssuuuurrreeeee!" I called out looking at the ninja.

"Blake! Blake! Blake! Blake!" The group began chant at the bow-wearing introvert.

Blake felt uncomfortable. She was used to being in front of a crowd, but not when they were all chanting her name, demanding that she take such a silly pose. She cast a sideways glance at Wiess, her expression sent a clear message, 'Don't you do it!' The chanting was getting louder. She sighed and gave an apologetic look at the white figure. Cracking under the pressure, Blake praised the sun along with the rest of us.

"Yaaaay!" We chanters happily expressed upon our victory. Now came Wiess. We looked at the heiress expectantly.

"You're all so childish." She rolled her eyes before conforming to the gesture.

"Victory!" I declared relinquishing the pose, followed by all the other praisers.

"Now what?" Jaune asked with a confused smile.

"Now... Me and Wiess go shopping!" Ruby quickly proclaimed, grabbing the duelist's arm and taking off down a nearby side street with the aforementioned girl in tow.

Amidst the commotion, Nora swiftly pick-pocketed her team leader and ran off in a different direction, laughing maniacally. Her fellow teammates gave chase, all the while calling her name and demanding she stop.

Yang took this as a sign to sweep Blake off her feet (literally), and run off with her captive in her arms.

Once again, I was all alone.

I was used to being alone, being the odd man out and teamless, it was to be expected. Not to say I enjoyed being alone, it was just commonplace. So there I stood, alone on the sidewalk, looking dazed and confused. Once I realized how strange I looked, I began to walk with no real direction in mind. Just wondering really.

Eventually, I could walk no more without falling into the ocean. At least, I think it was an ocean. It smelled of salt water and fish. Boats were littered across the docks, mostly fishing vessels, though there were a few cargo ships and seldom luxury boats. Standing there, leaning against the railing seperating me and the open water, I began to think. No particular topics came to mind, more along the lines of a statement of facts. I was a long way from home, in a place I knew very little about, other then some pieces of history and the people. Odds were, I'd never see my family again. That was an emotional topic that I did my best to avoid, instead focusing on the here and now.

Half an hour I stood there. Eventually stepping back once I realized just how long i'd been zoned out. Sighing, and opening my wallet, I peered down at the fifty-six lien that Nora had thrown at me the other day. It certainly was a lot of money to be throwing around willy-nilly. Then again, she probably doesn't spend all that much, seeing as her teammate is a cereal-box celebrity. As well as her tendency to snag wallets. My other pocket contained the envelope of cash that Pyrrha had given to me a few weeks ago after that beowolf mission.

Again I wandered down the city streets, aimlessly peering into the number of shops and stores. Eventually coming to a store selling something I knew very little about. Dust.

Pushing open the door to the tiny store, I took in the surroundings. Large tubes filled with dust decending from the ceiling hugged the wall on the left side of the store. Isles of jars and containers of the substance dominated the majority of the store. The rear of the buliding consisted of magazine racks, drink coolers, and random stuff you might find at the front counter of a convenience store. By far the most intriguing part of the shop was the front desk. In the glass counter were dust crystals, much like the ones Wiess had shown me when that dust delivery was conducted.

Guarding these crystals was a feeble-looking old man with gray hair wrapping around his head save for the top of it. He looked at me with concern. Not so much at me, but his gaze was directed more toward my hat. 'Does this guy have a problem with fedoras?' I thought giving him a questioning gaze.

Rather than ask him about his personal opinion on hats, I walked the isles, looking at the containers of dust but not actually going as far as to read the labels. This process continued until I noticed I set of large brown ears in the next isle.

Velvet held a jar of dust, scanning the labels before shaking her head and grabbing a different jar. A man walked behind her, she didn't flinch or even look up. She was either totally distracted, or extremely calm. It didn't matter which, because it was in that moment in time I decided to take advantage of the poor fanus. Walking to the end of the isle, I watched my prey, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

The moment came when she placed down the jar of dust and began scanning more labels for the canister she was looking for. At this moment, I walked down the isle, focusing on my feet to keep my strides normal as to not alert the big-eared fanus. Much to my delight, she didn't look up, he focus was entirely on the jars of dust. The moment I was behind her, I clapped my hands on her shoulders and yelled, "VELVET!"

"AAAAHH!" She squealed at my sudden appearance before clasping her hands over her mouth upon realizing it was my voice that penetrated the quiet of the little shop. She turned around with her face looking adorably angry before morphing into relief. "You scared the piss out of me, you know that right?" She heaved with drooping ears.

"I'm sorry, it was just too perfect! I mean, when am I _ever_ going to get an opportunity like that again?" I beamed and chuckled.

Velvet sighed and returned to searching for the ideal jar. "If you'd been here any earlier or later, I probably would've dropped one of these jars and turned this place into a crater." Velvet stated busily.

"Which is exactly why I appeared when I did." Velvet didn't appear too interested in what I had to say, she was focused in her pursuit of dust. "So what are you up to anyway?"

"Well, my team is stocking up on supplies today. I was picked for the duty of getting dust." Velvet informed picking up another jar. "What about you?"

"I just wandered in here." I answered honestly.

She just nodded. Though she had asked the question, she wasn't at all attentive towards the answer. To this, I frowned and walked away. Gravitating to the rear of the store, I found the rack of magazines, taking particular interest in the magazine labeled, "Guns". Inside the glossy book, I found a number of guns and attachments for sale. Pistols, Rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, and specialized weapons. Continuing to read and analyze any items that caught my eye, I flipped through the magazine. I stopped reading when a brilliant idea came to mind upon seeing a number of tasers listed on the page.

Closing the magazine and firmly planting it back on the rack, I dashed back into the isle where I had left the rabbit fanus. There she stood smiling at the perfect jar of red dust. She turned upon hearing my hurried footsteps coming down the isle. "Velvet, is there any electrical dust in existence?"

"Of course, it's the yellow kind." She stated pointing at the yellow jars. "Why?"

"Well, if I wanted to incapacitate, but not kill, someone with a bit of dust, which one should I get?" I asked pointing at all the dust jars.

"How much dust do you intend on using?"

"Just a little sprinkle."

Velvet nodded and scanned the jars of yellow dust, eventually picking up a jar and handing it to me. "This should do, just don't use too much, you might kill accidentally kill someone."

I took the jar and cringed at the price tag, "A bit too steep for me, Velvet."

"Well how much do you need?" Velvet's ears flickered.

"Just a few ounces."

Velvet walked away, and I followed. Crossing two isles we came to an isle filled with various vials of different colored dust. Velvet set to work again, quickly finding the appropriate five ounce vial and handing it to me. The price was still up there, but not intolerably so. "Thanks Velvet, I'll see you later."

The brown-eared girl gave an uncertain smile and returned to her shopping while I purchased the dust and left the store.

Perusing the streets of Vale was always either eventful, or totally dull. Nevertheless, with nothing better to do, entertaining oneself while walking became a necessity. However, this also leads to people looking at you funny. Especially when you walk into a gun store to buy ammunition. At that point, the clerk manning the cash register may think that you're either crazy or high. Making it very difficult to purchase ammunition when people don't want to sell to someone who might be crazy. Nonetheless, profit takes precedence over all, so he took my lien with nothing more than a few sidewise glaces.

Perhaps I should've known better than to be merrily strolling down the streets all alone. But, i'm an idiot so I remained undeterred. Walking this way and that, I used the majority of my lien reserves until only about sixty remained. With that lien I had bought: One backpack, two thirty-packs of coke, an assortment of snacks, five ounces of yellow dust, one box of ammunition and the secret to eternal happiness.

Continuing to prance about, I found myself in Vale's large park. Checking my watch, I discovered that it was around _3:30. _Only two hours until returning to the shuttle would become top priority. Until then, sitting on a park bench seemed like as good of a way to pass the time as any. This was true for a time until I heard a '_woosh' _and saw a frisbee fly overhead. Heartbeats later, a red streak darted past me leaving rose-petals in it's wake. The red line expectantly transformed into none other than the scythe-wielding leader of team RWBY herself. She leapt up and deftly caught the disk in one hand, rolling after the catch to reduce her velocity and stop quicker.

"I win Yang!" She shouted gleefully to her sister upon standing.

Turning my head to see properly, in the distance, I could make out the blonde maned woman standing on a hill. "You've ain't won nothin' yet little sis'!" Yang called out.

If you had some sort of superhuman hearing, you could've heard Wiess correct the buxom blonde, "If that were true, she would've just won something."

The two squabbled while they waited for Ruby to return with the frisbee. "Oh hey! I didn't see you there!" She greeted upon seeing me on the bench.

"You know, You're the second person to tell me that today." I commented upon her observation.

"Really?"

"Well, not in the same _way. _But close enough."

Ruby shrugged and continued walking back to her sister. When she regrouped with her teammates, Yang and Wiess ceased arguing. Ruby didn't like infighting amongst her squad, as a result, bickering was kept to a minimum when she was around. Ruby handed her sister the frisbee, who received it and warned Ruby to, "Get ready." With a determined nod, Ruby took her stance and prepared to sprint. Yang hurled the object with all her might, which, incase you didn't know, is a lotta' might. The frisbee soared and cascaded across the park. Ruby took off sprinting but didn't activate her aura at first. Instead waiting until the disk had reached maximum altitude to blaze off in pursuit.

She had to have run at least half a mile before catching the frisbee. Running that distance may not have proved all too exerting for the active young girl. However, having to use that amount of aura to catch up to the object before it hit the ground, changed the story by leaps and bounds. Once she caught it, she was in no hurry to return to her sister. Instead, assuming a leisurely pace in order to catch her breath.

As she continued to walk back to her team, I played with the idea of transferring some of my aura to her. I wasn't using any of it at the moment, and she seemed to be in need of a bit of a boost. Then again, when I did it on accident, I rendered Yang unconscious and inadvertently almost gave Blake heat-stroke. Ruby trudged ever-closer, she DID look strangely tired and I needed to see if I could constantly giving her aura over time. Rather than in one huge dose.

As she passed, I rose from my seat and focused on my hand. The blue glow returned, rather than immediately disperse, it remained consistently. Breathing out, I focused and watched the mist blue appear and connect to Miss Rose, though it looked much less dense. Ruby jerked up upon feeling the unfamiliar feeling. Turning around she looked at me like a confused puppy, then she looked at the mist and realized what I was going. "Thanks!" She gratefully exclaimed with a tiny smile.

"Nah, don't thank me. You need it more than I do." Ruby smiled and continued walking, I tagged along behind her to keep the mist alive. I could feel her aura levels rising, it was like holding a glass as it filled up with water. "I'm surprised Ruby, I didn't think that a run like that would tire you so easily."

"Weeellll, seeing as i've done it six other times may've had something do do with it." Ruby confessed with a humble shrug.

"Man, I couldn't do half of that once!" I dramatically admitted.

Ruby shrugged once more and continued up the hill to her waiting sister, "Look at you Ruby! Ran off after a frisbee and came back with a frisbee AND a man-slave!"

"Yep!" She said wrapping an arm around her sister, "I am just that Sm-oooth!"

Yang laughed and stepped forward whisking her hand through the stream of aura between Ruby and I. The slight influx of aura caused Yang to begin glowing for a few seconds, "Cool, How does it work?" Yang asked.

"The real question is, how do magnets work?" I returned in an even more questioning tone.

"No idea." Yang informed honestly, "But how does it work?"

"Hell if I know, I'd need a team of aura-savvy geniuses to figure that out."

"You could ask Pyrrha or Wiess. But I think that Wiess is more of a dust genius." Yang stated eyeing the heiress.

Wiess had been both insulted and complemented at the same time, so rather than say anything, she merely ignored the statement entirely.


	29. Chapter 28: We Merry Few

**Chapter 28: We Merry Few**

_Sorry about the long upload time, life sneaks up on you sometimes. I hope you enjoy this chapter and be sure to read the first part of my new story _Queen Ruby!

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It was good to socialize with Team RWBY once again. Being around them made me feel less alone then I truly was. Team JNPR also helped with this from time to time but they were a bit more close-knit. That didn't stop them from making sudden appearances and merging with team RWBY for a kind of social hour.

The latest social hour was heralded by the bombastic Nora. She seems to appear at odd times, much like Blake. "So Blake..." Yang began, walking over to the quietly reading fanus. "Have you heard about-"

"NORA!" The very young woman burst out from above Blake, announcing her appearance by shouting her name.

"What the hell?!" Yang was taken aback by the pink haired girl's manifestation, not nearly as much as Blake however.

"How did you?..." Blake stammered, her usual cool having been ruptured by being on the receiving end of stealthy surprise for once. Ruby snorted to stifle the outburst of laughter that brewed behind her lips. Blake noticed this, closed her book and stood. She stepped forward, "Nora-"

"Boop!" Nora cut off Blake by poking the tip of her nose.

Yang stepped forward to defend her teammate, "Hey! What do you think yo-"

"Boop!" Nora cut Yang off as well, with a one-eighty nose boop. A fire lit in Yang's eyes. She may've known Nora, but there's scant few that Yang would allow to poke her nose. Weiss had lived with the tenacious blonde long enough to know when she's about to go off. To this end, Wiess moved over to Nora.

"Nora, before you cause a problem-"

"Booooop!" Nora poked Wiess's nose. This would've cheered Yang up but, "Boop!" Nora spun around again to touch Yang's face once more. I'd heard stories and tales about Yang getting mad. Hoping that perhaps I wouldn't ever have to see it. Hoping more that I wouldn't be the one to infuriate her. Today, one of those dreams died.

Yang's lavender eyes began to flood red. Seeing someone who works out on a regular basis, and wears ballistic gauntlets that fire shotgun shells get angry, is synonymous with terrifying. Wiess was also igniting with her own brand of anger, an exact opposite of Yang's type but no less intimidating. A rapier wielding, dust shooting, duelist who's never been 'legitimately' defeated with the attitude of a mint.

These two, turning against an adventurous bombard with a combined dislike couldn't be upheld. Blake wasn't pleased with Nora, but she wouldn't condone an execution. As Yang activated her gauntlets, Blake secured her arms around Yang's and held them behind her back. Wiess went unchecked, she lowered her hand to her dust-filled sword. When her hand brushed the hilt of the blade, she was immediately swarmed by rose-petals and wrapped in a forceful hug from behind. "Ruby..." Wiess spoke flatly.

"Come-on Wiess! You know better, just let my hugs take the hate away."

Wiess simmered down, "Boop!"

Wiess snapped and struggled for freedom. Yang was inspired by Wiess's resolve and began to struggle as well. I'd had enough of watching, and Nora had given me a good amount of lien for getting my ass kicked in a timely fashion so I thought I owed her just a little. "Uh Nora, I believe it's time you exit stage right." I informed helpfully pointing away from the hell-bent girls.

"Okay!" Nora cheerfully agreed, skipping away; much to the disappointment of Wiess and Yang who both still wanted to strangle her.

"Get back here and die with honor!" Yang yelled, still struggling to free herself from Blake's grip.

Wiess conversely ceased struggling, bound by her oath to be the 'Best teammate ever.' Using deep breathing techniques, Wiess calmed down enough to not bother trying to draw her sword. This pleased Ruby, although Wiess didn't intend to kill Nora, Ruby didn't want to stop hugging the heiress. "Ruby." Wiess brought the attention of the girl to the present.

"Y-yes Wiess?"

"You can stop hugging me now."

"Uh, r-right, yes, o-of course." Ruby stammered, releasing her grip and stepping back. Her face was as red as her cloak, this adorable embarrassment snapped Yang out of her angry trance.

"Look at you Rubles! The ice princess making you feel a little warm?" Yang sarcastically jabbed.

"Sh-shut up." Ruby covered her face with her hood to conceal her awkwardness. Yang laughed as the lavender returned to her eyes. I wasn't the only one who noticed this, her retainer relinquished her grip upon seeing the cheer return to Yang's face.

"Come here little sis'!" Yang stepped forward and brought Ruby into a spine-shattering bear hug.

"Pleeeaaaassse staaaahhhhhppppp." Ruby whimpered as the air was forced from her lungs. Ignoring her pleas, Yang continued to hug. This humorous alleviation of tension was exactly what this group needed. The lovingly painful interactions between the sisters was heartwarming for team RWBY, even Wiess couldn't help but smile.

Until team JNPR came trouncing over the hill. Ren looked exceptionally tired while being half-carried by Nora. Jaune didn't seem physically exhausted, more along the lines of being just mentally done. Pyrrha was the only one of the group who seemed unburdened, though she did fawn over the group, asking if everyone was ok or if anyone needed anything, Jaundice in particular. Just as Yang eased her grasp on her sister, she noticed the squad coming over the hill. Especially, the pink haired demolitionist carrying Lie Ren. The feeling of anguish and spite returned to the blonde, causing her to hold her sibling tighter than before. "Y-Yang... P-pu-please?" Ruby breathed, tapping her sister on the shoulder.

Blake and Wiess rushed to Yang's side, Blake stroked Yang's luscious locks while Wiess held a bag against her mouth. As she inflated and deflated the bag, the two whispered and calmed the blonde. "Shhh, calm down Yang."

"It's fine you dolt, now stop crushing Ruby." Wiess whispered in an unusually soothing demeanor. Yang complied, releasing a final long-winded breath along with her sister. Who, upon her release, dramatically collapsed and inhaled for a good eight seconds.

"Alright, i'm good." Ruby declared leaping to her feet. Shortly thereafter, Team JNPR stumbled to unite with team RWBY. Upon their arrival, Blake faded back against the tree to guard the team's belongings against Nora's sticky fingers. Meanwhile, Wiess crossed her arms and stared intently at Ren. Whom had stopping as an opportunity to slouch.

"Nora..." Ren exhaustedly and purposefully led.

Nora's cheery expression quickly inverted, "Awww, Ren. Do I have to?!"

"Nora..."

"Okay..." Nora turned in her glum-faced entirety to face the waiting heiress. "I'm sorry."

Oh my, the games then did begin. "You imbecile! Your childish actions are inexcusable! Do you honestly believe..." Wiess's scolding continued, but rather than sticking around to hear it, I decided it was time to recover my belongings from the park bench before they could be stolen.

"So, anyone want to come with me to get my stuff?" I asked the nearby bystanders of the interaction between Wiess and Nora.

"Sure!" Yang agreed readily.

"I'll go." Jaune also concurred.

"Alright! Pyrrha how 'bout you?" I asked the apologetic redhead.

Pyrrha liked to play peacekeeper, but in this case she chose to avoid the conflict. "I shall accompany you as well." With that, we set off down the hill, away from the shade of the tree and toward the park-bench were Ruby found me. Yang dragged Jaune into a conversation about being blonde, so I decided to seek enlightenment from the 'resident aura expert.'

"Pyrrha, You know stuff and things about aura and whatnot right?"

Pyrrha smiled, "Yes, I am well educated on aura and the use of it."

"That includes semblances and stuff right?" I pressed. Pyrrha nodded readily. "So how does mine work?"

Pyrrha had almost been anticipating the question, "I had been curious to that as well, have you done any research on the subject?"

"Uh... No, not really. I've been doing research about world history. It's actually pretty good." I confessed somewhat shamefully.

Pyrrha continued walking, "It's good to have an interest in history. Many can't seem to stay awake during professor Oobleck's lectures."

"Well, during class, I like to play a little game where I try to guess where he's going to dash off to next."

Pyrrha nodded, "I see. When I unlocked Jaune's aura I discovered that he had an abundance of it. On you, I could not detect any of. Now, it is much more apparent, and rather than having an abundance of it, yours is much more... Potent."

"Potent? How exactly do you know all this stuff anyway?" I asked befuddled.

"I've had training, some fanus can also detect aura." She informed knowledgeably.

"Right, black-magic witchcraft." I agreed sarcastically.

"Not quite." Pyrrha chuckled.

"It's easier just to call it witchcraft, less complicated." I stated upon arriving at the park bench littered with my supplies. Gathering the goods, Yang began to root through some of my purchases.

"Dust, a backpack, Oooh Snacks!" She opened the bag filled with the assortment of junk food.

"My food!" I claimed, snatching the bag from her hands.

"Come on! Just gimmie a little!" Yang demanded while trying to reach for the bag.

"Nope!"

"Just one!"

"Pyrrha, help me!" I pleaded to the nearby amazon who oddly was pleased to see this interaction. Pyrrha smiled and opened the bag that I held away from Yang. She withdrew a bag of chips and threw it to the other girl, who greedily snatched it from the air and tore it open, scarfing down the fried potatoes within. I looked at Pyrrha with exaggerated destain, "Pyrrha! You traitor!" In response, she handed me three lien to reimburse me. Strange that Beacon students, (at least the ones I knew) seemed to have income to just throw around. Except for Jaune, who had taking a liking to laying on the park bench.

As the group of Jaune, Yang, Pyrrha and I returned, Wiess was finishing up scolding Nora. I doubt much of the lessons that she was trying to set forth got through, Nora did not have much in the ways of an attention span and was easily distracted by shiny objects, clouds and anything moving. "-Which is exactly why this behavior should stop." Wiess finished.

Nora snapped to attention, "Oooookay!" She saluted Wiess. Nora knelt next to Ren and began to chatter at the half-conscious young man. The expression on his face was either, 'kill me' or displeasure. Wiess settled near the tree which Ruby and Blake had retired beneath. Ruby had taken a position behind Blake to read over her shoulder, while Blake sat amidst the bags and containers that had been purchased by team RWBY throughout the day. Blake unfortunately made the fatal mistake of looking up at Yang, who, upon making eye contact with her, became a human freight-train. She took off in Blake's direction with reckless abandon. This style of running triggered Wiess's 'Oh no, Yang's about to make a mess' senses. Just as she was about to assimilate the bags of food and other supplies, Wiess deftly conjured up one of those glyph-thingies and repealed the blonde by bouncing her back onto her backside.

Yang glared at the heiress, "What gives? I was just going to say 'Hi' to Blake!"

"You were about to destroy all the supplies we spent all day gathering you flat-footed oaf!" Wiess scoffed dismissively.

"I would not! Right Rubes?" Yang looked to her sister for backing. She found none.

"Well Yang... You can be a teensy bit... Hazardous." Ruby admitted, shuffling her feet.

"I can't believe this. Betrayed by my own sister." Yang grumbled crossing her arms.

"Macho Man can't _believe_ this!" I chimed in, imitating the voice of Macho Man; Randy Savage. Of course, nobody got the reference but the voice was rewarded by a few snickers.

"Ooh! Cola!" Nora cawed from the background. Turning around, I could see that Nora had shifted from kneeling next to Lie Ren, to investigating my bags of snacks and suchlike. Before I could say anything, she tore open the cardboard box protecting the drinks and extracted a single can of the carbonated beverage.

Her triumph did not last long, before she could crack-open the seal on the top, Pyrrha raised her hand and used her semblance to move the can from Nora's hand to hers. "No soda until we get back to Beacon, Nora." Jaundice said this from behind Pyrrha's back. Their team synergy was quite impressive, Jaune had ordered Pyrrha to confiscate the can without saying a word. This didn't register in my mind at first, the more pertinent question was how Pyrrha had just moved the can.

She tossed me the can of Coke, "How did you do that?" I asked the redhead yet another question.

She gave her tiny smile, "My semblance is polarity." Before I could ask the stupid question she elaborated her statement, "Magnets, not poles."

"Ah, I see." I diverted my attention from the Amazon to the millionaire dust-supplier, "So what can you do with your rune-thingies Wiess?"

"Their called _glyphs._" Wiess informed matter-of-factly, "And I can do a myriad of different things with them."

"Can you make one that's kind of bouncy?" I asked with a scheme forming in my head.

Wiess was confused, "Yes, that's called a _Jump Glyph, _why?"

"Wait, so what you're saying is, we could totally make a giant trampoline?" I furthered my question adding a dash of interest to the question. Asking this question attracted the attention of many of the merry few amongst us.

Ruby gasped in delight, "Please Wiess! This would be really cool!" She nearly tackled the heiress as she asked this question.

"Wha-? Wait, No! Even if I wanted to, there's no way I would sustain it for that long!" Wiess quickly crushed the dreams of her leader. This statement was met by creastfallen expressions on the faces of Ruby, Nora, Yang, Jaune, and Blake strangely. I for one wasn't willing to let their dreams die so quickly.

"No wait! What if I supplied you with the aura to sustain the glyph?" I asked the dust slinging Schnee.

Before she could reply, Ruby was upon her, "Pleeeeaaaase Wiess? Plllllllllllllllllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-" This annoying drag of the word 'please' coupled with Ruby abusing her puppy-dog eyed expression overwhelmed the cold heart of the older girl.

"Alright fine." The heiress caved, conjuring up a large jump glyph.

The interested few cheered and leapt onto the platform and began to bounce up to thirty meters into the air. Meanwhile Wiess and I stayed grounded to sustain the massive glyph. After a good two and a half minutes, I reached my very limit, "Alright guys, I can't keep it up. Wrap it up!"

"Awww..." Ruby sighed as she stopped bouncing and dismounted from the Glyph, followed by Pyrrha, Yang, Jaune and Blake.

"Hang on! I wanna do one more thing!" Nora explained bouncing as high as gravity would allow. Just as she hit the glyph for one final magnificent jump, she expanded her hammer and fired a shot against the ground. "WHEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-" She took of into the air like a rocket on steroids. She flew and flew until gravity caught up to her when she was a mere pink speck in th sky. She hadn't put much thought into her landing strategy, but Wiess did. Formulating a succession of glyphs, Nora acted like a pinball bouncing to each one before hitting the ground, summersaulting, and throwing her hands in the air to pretend like that was all on purpose.

"Well, that was a thing." Yang said when nothing catchier came to mind.

When we all realized what time it was, we packed up and headed for the shuttle docks to return to Beacon. That about did it for that day.


End file.
